Maui Election

Mayor-elect Bissen completed his director appointments with the selection of John Stufflebean to lead the Department of Water Supply, James “Kimo” Landgraf to serve as deputy director.

Mayor-elect Bissen announced a new round of appointments to his cabinet including: Victoria Hamilton Takayesu as Corporation Counsel; Rogerene “Kali” Arce as Director of Department of Agriculture; Mālama Minn as Director of Parks and Recreation; and Lori Tsuhako as Director of Housing and Human Concerns.

Mayor-elect Richard Bissen’s public inauguration ceremony will be held Jan. 2, 2023 at 5 p.m. in the Castle Theater at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center.

Mayor-Elect Richard Bissen announced more appointments to his cabinet including: Andrew Martin as Prosecuting Attorney; Scott Teruya as Director of Department of Finance; and Jordan Molina as Director of Department of Public Works.

Mayor Elect Bissen names three staff appointments to his cabinet, including: Leo Caires as Chief of Staff, Mahina Martin as Chief of Communications, and Gerry Dameron as Chief Innovation Officer.

Mayor-elect Richard Bissen today announced his first cabinet appointment of Kekuhaupio “Keku” Akana as his Managing Director.

Maui County Mayor-elect, Richard Bissen is seeking individuals who wish to serve their community in the position of County Department Directors and Deputy Directors.

Maui County Council candidate Noelani Ahia and 30 Maui County voters have filed a complaint with the Hawai’i Supreme Court seeking to void the results of the Wailuku-Waiheʻe-Waikapū County Council race, and hold a new election.

More than 800 mail-in ballots were reportedly set aside for “deficient” signatures in Maui County on Election Day, and are pending voter action in order to be officially counted, according to the Our Hawaiʻi coalition. With just 504 votes separating Maui Council Chair Alice Lee, and challenger Noelani Ahia in the fourth summary report for the race for the Council’s Wailuku-Waiheʻe-Waikapū residency seat, the outstanding ballots have the potential to impact the outcome of that particular race.

Governor-elect Josh Green today has launched a website to begin taking applications for the Office of the Governor, Cabinet, and Boards and Commissions.

We had a chance to catch up with Bissen this morning, as he joined his wife in sign waving and thanking the community at the Hāna Highway / Haleakalā Highway intersection. He discussed the road ahead and how he plans to carry out his promise of Kamaʻāina Prosperity.

The Richard Bissen campaign has declared their candidate mayor after the second printout. In a Hawaii News Now interview just prior to the Bissen announcement, Victorino conceded saying, “I accept defeat,” and vowed to make the transition between administrations as smooth as possible.

On Election Day, the Voter Service Center at the Velma McWayne Santos Community Center in Wailuku had a steady flow of Maui County residents dropping off ballots or voting in person.

Live Election Results: Check back here for updated Hawaiʻi results as they are released, with a focus on Maui County races first. Now all ballots have been tallied and the information includes final data from respective counties. The results are unchanged for Maui County from previous third summary report, which was released at around mid-day on Wednesday.

Maui voters still have time to vote either by visiting a voter service center by 7 p.m. today (Nov. 8, 2022), or dropping their ballot in a designated drop box. Locations, and dates/hours of operation are posted here.

To cap off a month-long effort to promote the importance of Native Hawaiian civic engagement and turnout at the polls, a collaboration of community organizations gathered Monday to make one final push to encourage voter turnout. 

With just one week to go, election officials recommend Hawaiʻi voters return their completed ballots by dropping them off at a ballot drop box or by visiting a voter service center within their county rather than placing them in the mail.

To mark the opening of voter service centers across Hawaiʻi, Native Hawaiian students from the Kamehameha School – Maui campus traveled to the Wailuku Community Center to drop off their General Election ballots. All of the students in attendance were first-time voters, with several of them voting in person. 

Voter service centers open today on Maui and Molokaʻi. Centers in Hāna and on Lānaʻi have limited hours. The complete schedule is posted here.

The race for Maui’s top executive job comes down to incumbent Michael Victorino, and challenger Richard Bissen. The two garnered the most votes in the Primary Election and now face off in the General Election, with the top vote getter to lead the County of Maui for the next four years as mayor.