Cochran tops West Maui primary contest that shows how fire is playing into politics 

Up until last week when she cashed her first check of the 2024 campaign, West Maui state Rep. Elle Cochran only had 19 cents in her reelection coffers. 

The unusually sparse war chest for a returning candidate in an active election season was a reminder of how quiet this cycle of campaigning has been — and how heavily the August 2023 wildfires have weighed on both candidates and voters who have been more concerned about rebuilding than about reelecting. 

“There’s just been big issues and disasters that’s thrown everybody upside down here,” Cochran said. “The whole environment of our lifestyle, our living, our island, our way of life has really changed, whether you were in the fire or not, we’re all affected somehow. … I just wasn’t into forking out tons of money. I didn’t do one sign-waving. I didn’t do a lot of things. I’ve just been busy trying to keep up with what the people’s needs are here.”

On Saturday night, Cochran was on track to win her House District 14 Democratic primary race against repeat challenger Kanamu Balinbin, collecting 1,201 votes, or 57 percent, to Balinbin’s 587 votes, or 27.9 percent, according to state Office of Election results as of 10:22 p.m. Provided the results stand, Cochran will advance to the general election to face Republican Kelly Armstrong.

The race showed how the fire is playing into politics as Cochran and Balinbin highlighted their own involvement in the community and debated whether government is doing enough for Lahaina’s recovery. Cochran nearly ran unopposed until Balinbin pulled papers to run on June 3, the day before the filing deadline. The two have faced off multiple times at both the county and state levels, with Cochran consistently coming out on top.

“I’ve never said any race is a given,” Cochran said Saturday night. “A race is a race and people need options and I believe in all that. And who knows? I mean our whole town has been torn upside down. I don’t know where people’s heads are at or what they’re thinking. We’re just so divided right now. I mean really, our town is very divided.”

Cochran was among those who started a community supply hub to help residents who lost everything in Lahaina, but the lawmaker and volunteer managers eventually parted ways and the hub shut down in October.

Balinbin said he had “mixed emotions about running just because the state of our community” but ultimately was motivated by the response to the fire.  

“I just felt that because of the things that we do … I think we have more of a feel of what really needed to be done,” said Balinbin, whose family operates the relief hub at Pohaku Beach Park, known as S-Turns. “I think she kind of lost her feel, you know? She’s really good at saving the environment. You know, she helped with Honolua Bay. Anything besides that, we really don’t know what she did. That’s kind of the thing over here — what did she do for us? … For me all I’ve been doing for this past year is serving our community.”

Balinbin agreed that “this is a real tough year to campaign for us here, just islandwide.” He pointed out that the street corners of Wailuku and Kahului that are usually plastered with campaign signs this time of year are more empty this election. 

“To me it kind of shows that people are kind of fed up with government, to be honest,” he said. “Just from what I understand, from what I have seen for us here since the fire, people are really weary. We don’t know which way things are going to be told. Especially for us in Lahaina, we have been told so many different things, you know, with fast-track housing, this and that.”

Responding to Balinbin’s questions over what she’s done for the community while in office, Cochran said she’s a “boots-on-the-ground type of person” who’s been on-site with residents in the burn zone and worked to create a coalition of building professionals after the fire. She said as a legislator, the top projects she’s been pushing for are the extension of the Lahaina Bypass and of Kuhua Street, a deadly corridor for many fire victims. She added that she’s tried to put in multiple bills during the legislative session but that they have been stifled from consideration by lawmakers who “want to make me look incompetent.” 

“I always say, well, you know, you can get in and try and see if you can do it better,” Cochran said. “And I got money for things, you know, what I could get. I don’t want to go into the big sordid behind-the-scenes details of how our state Legislature ticks, but it’s called politics for a reason and there’s a lot of it. … So I feel like since I’m not anybody’s puppet then I’m not part of any clique that gets a lot of money.”

Both candidates were worried about turnout with thousands of Lahaina residents displaced. District 14 covers the entirety of West Maui, from Kahakuloa on the north side to Mā‘alaea on the south side, which means many communities in the area are still intact after the fire. But West Maui, and more broadly Maui County and the state, have long had low voter participation, and the fire “definitely put a damper on the turnout,” Cochran said. 

During the August 2022 primary election in essentially the same race, Cochran and Balinbin collected a total of 3,130 votes; this year’s count of 1,788 votes as of the second round of results late Saturday night is about a 43 percent drop. 

Cochran was one of multiple incumbent state lawmakers on track to win their primary and advance to the general election on Nov. 5. Democratic Rep. Tyson Miyake held a substantial lead with 3,085 votes, or 71.5 percent, to challenger Jeremiah Savage’s 705 votes, or 16.3 percent, in the race for Central Maui’s House District 10. Democratic Rep. Mahina Poepoe looked to be on pace to beat repeat opponent Linda Ha‘i Clark with 2,154 votes, or 65 percent, to Clark’s 672 votes, or 20.3 percent. 

Democrats Sen. Troy Hashimoto of Central Maui’s Senate District 5 and Rep. Justin Woodson of Central Maui’s House District 10 both ran unopposed and will return to the Capitol next year.

For full results, visit elections.hawaii.gov/results or https://mauinow.com/2024/08/10/2024-hawaii-primary-election-results/