“The process is going to take an hour and a half. Do you have time to do this now or would you like to come back later?”
“The process is going to take an hour and a half. Do you have time to do this now or would you like to come back later?”
With those innocuous words by county Office of Elections worker Kaonohi Kahele, the 2016 campaign season in Hawaii officially kicked off Monday with the first day of pulling nomination papers for candidates.
First in line after the 7:45 a.m. office opening in Hilo was state Rep. Joy San Buenaventura, a Democrat representing Puna’s District 4. San Buenaventura had two reasons to be an early bird getting her papers to run for re-election.
“I have to catch a flight to Honolulu to get to the session,” she said. “And there have been rumors that I was going to go for another seat. I wanted to allay those rumors.”
Close behind was Wendell Kaehuaea, who is running for mayor. Another eager mayoral candidate, Shannon K.K. McCandless, was one of the first to file on the west side of the island. The nonpartisan mayoral seat also is sought by three other announced candidates who have not yet pulled papers: former county Managing Director Wally Lau, former Kohala Councilman Pete Hoffmann and Kawika Crowley.
In all, 12 would-be candidates pulled papers Monday. The candidate filing period runs through June 7.
Besides McCandless, potential candidates pulling papers in the Kona office were incumbent Kona Councilman Dru Kanuha, incumbent North Kona Councilwoman Karen Eoff and incumbent South Kona/Ka‘u Councilwoman Maile David. All seek re-election to their nonpartisan seats.
Hilo would-be candidates, in addition to San Buenaventura and Keahuaea, were Maui resident Eric Hafner, running as a Republican challenger to the 2nd Congressional District seat now occupied by Democrat Tulsi Gabbard; Hilo Councilman Greggor Ilagan challenging fellow Democrat state Sen. Russell Ruderman for the District 2 Senate seat; former Hawaii County Democratic Party Chairman David Tarnas challenging fellow Democrat state Rep. Cindy Evans for the District 7 House seat; William Halversen seeking the nonpartisan County Council District 2 seat; Susan Lee Loy seeking the District 3 County Council seat; and Puna Councilman Daniel Paleka, seeking re-election to his District 5 seat.
To qualify for the ballot, candidates must come up with verified signatures of registered voters living within the district — 15 for local races and 25 for statewide races. In addition, candidates must pay filing fees ranging from $75 to $750, depending on the race.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.