Jenn Kagiwada edged Matthias Kusch by 276 votes in a hotly contested District 2 County Council race between two political first-timers in Tuesday night’s general election.
In the only council race not decided in August’s primaries, Kagiwada received 3,823 votes, or 51.9% of the valid votes cast, while Kusch had 3,547 votes, or 48.1% of the votes cast.
Neither candidate had more than 50% of the vote in August’s primary election, leading to Tuesday evening’s runoff.
The District 2 seat is occupied until December by former County Council Chairman Aaron Chung, who was term-limited after being in office for eight years. The district is entirely within Hilo, including downtown Hilo, Bayfront, Wailoa, a portion of Waiakea Houselots, University Heights, Komohana Gardens, a portion of Waiakea Uka, Lanakila, Mohouli, Ainako, Kaumana, Piihonua, Wailuku and Waianuenue.
Kagiwada said the bigger issues she wants to focus on with her colleagues in all levels of government include “affordable housing, homeless and dealing with our cesspools.”
She also pointed out issues she called “very specific” to Hilo, including “the pollution in Hilo Bay.”
“Also, Hilo is the only district that has’t had a community action committee for their community development plan,” Kagiwada said. “All the other districts around the island have one. We’re the only ones who doesn’t have one.
“So, I’ve been pushing to make sure that residents have a say in what happens and what’s prioritized as far as a community development plan goes,” she added.
Kusch, a 56-year-old retired Hawaii Fire Department battalion chief and vice president of Hilo Bayfront Trails Inc., was the better financed candidate, raising $78,448.46 and spending $69,799.86, according to the most recent report by the state Campaign Spending Commission.
Kagiwada, a 57-year-old aide to District 1 Councilwoman Heather Kimball and Hawaii Island coordinator for the Women’s March, reported receiving $43,004.05 and spending $39,867.79.
The closeness of Tuesday night’s race mirrored the August primaries, when the two engaged in a virtual dead heat, with Kagiwada edging Kusch by 40 votes, 2,675 to 2,635. That was 38.4% of the valid votes cast for Kagiwada, as opposed to 37.8% for Kusch.
There were three other primary candidates in the nonpartisan race, but only one, T.K. Wehrsig, founder and administrator of the Facebook page Big Island Thieves, received significant support, with 1,360 votes, or 19.5% of the votes cast.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
