Candidates who signed the Our Hawaiʻi Pledge to refuse campaign money from corporate PACs and lobbyists won or led in five of nine Maui County Council races in Tuesday’s general election, according to preliminary results and the political group Our Hawaiʻi.

The five are Bobby Pahia of Upcountry, Kelly Takaya King of South Maui, and incumbent Council Members Keani Rawlins-Fernandez of Molokaʻi, Shane Sinenci of East Maui and Gabe Johnson of Lānaʻi. Pahia received more than 60% of the vote in the Upcountry race, according to preliminary results. King led Tom Cook 47.1% to 41.6% in South Maui, and her race has not been finalized.

Mayor Richard Bissen defeated Maui County Council member Yuki Lei Sugimura, 54.8% to 42.6%, in the same preliminary results.

Our Hawaiʻi said the super PAC For A Better Tomorrow, which it described as affiliated with Pacific Resource Partnership, reported spending at least $1.9 million to support Sugimura. Sean Newcamp, the PAC’s chair, previously told the Hawaiʻi Journalism Initiative the group backed Sugimura because it wanted leadership that would move rebuilding forward, protect local jobs and make county government more accountable.

“Organized money has run Hawaiʻi politics for a long time,” said Kaniela Ing, Our Hawaiʻi’s co-founder and president. The group’s endorsed candidates showed “it doesn’t have to,” he said.

In West Maui, Green Party candidate Pāʻele Kiakona, a Lāhainā Strong organizer, led Democrat Sne Patel by 107 votes in the House District 14 race. The county clerk reported that 151 ballots in the district still had envelope problems that voters must fix by 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Kiakona’s campaign declared victory Wednesday, while Patel said he would wait for the process to finish.

Our Hawaiʻi said Kiakona would be the first Green Party member elected to the Hawaiʻi Legislature and the first third-party candidate elected in more than 100 years if his lead holds. The group said he ran with the backing of five unions: HGEA, HSTA, ILWU, UPW and UNITE HERE Local 5. His largest institutional donor was ILWU, at $2,000, and that Patel and outside committees supporting him outspent Kiakona 4-1, the group said.

Citing Campaign Spending Commission records, Our Hawaiʻi said Patel raised at least $16,150 from the campaign committees of 15 sitting legislators, $15,620 from real estate and development interests, and $15,014 from building trades and construction. The group said For A Better Tomorrow named Patel in a $245,000 ad buy supporting 10 legislative candidates. It said Local Jobs For Local People, a super PAC funded by the Hawaiʻi Electrical Workers Stabilization Fund, spent more than $90,000 supporting Patel and three Oʻahu candidates. The group also said the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi spent $35,000 on digital ads naming Patel.

Our Hawaiʻi said at least six members of the incoming state House have signed the pledge: Kiakona, Reps. Ikaika Hussey, Amy Perruso, Tina Nakada Grandinetti and Kim Coco Iwamoto, and Representative-elect Corey Rosenlee. Including Kauaʻi Council Member Fern Anuenue Holland, Hawaiʻi Island Council Member Jenn Kagiwada and Office of Hawaiian Affairs Chair Kai Kahele, the group counted 14 officeholders elected or re-elected this year who have taken the pledge.

Signers of the pledge agree to refuse contributions of more than $100 from corporate PACs and lobbyists, as well as from executives of developers, major landowners, hotel companies, energy utilities and military contractors, according to the group. Our Hawaiʻi launched the pledge in 2022 from a platform backed by 19 community-based groups.