PDF: First Read Results

PDF: Second Read Results  8:04pm

PDF: Third Read Results 9:53pm

PDF: Fourth Read Results 11:25pm  

PDF: FINAL SUMMARY REPORT 1:26am (Turnout 52.3% -- lowest in Hawaii History)

First read reflects results of walk-in and mail-in absentee voting only. Second read adds results from 104 of 247 precincts.  Third read includes all precincts.

Highlights:

Majority of voters reject Ige--but they are split three ways:

Ige 49.0%, Aiona 36.5%, Hannemann 11.8%, Davis 1.8%  

Democrats should thank Hannemann and Davis for stepping up to split the opposition and ensure election of a Democrat governor.  

The electorate was shaped by the Gubernatorial race as demonstrated by the count of blank ballots.  Only 0.8% of voters cast a blank ballot in the gubernatorial race--this is the lowest blank ballot percentage of any race.

Republicans:

Duke Aiona and Charles Djou are both losing.  Djou’s First and Second read 45% is equal to the total of Mufi’s 11% plus Duke’s 34%.  On third read Djou's margin tightens to 47.5% to Takai's 51.2%.  Djou's final (5th) read 47.4 is only 0.9% less than the total of Duke's 36.7% plus Mufi's 11.6% = 48.3%.  This demonstrates that the vast majority of Mufi's votes came at the expense of Duke Aiona.  Splitting the electorate three ways is an old Hawaii Democrat trick.

Must Read: Abortion Ads Unanswered: "Error of Major Proportions" by Aiona

All Republican legislative incumbents running are re-elected. The GOP has added two new House representatives.  (A net gain of one representative since Rep Richard Fale gave up his House seat for an unsuccessful Senate run.)

HD 43 Andria Tupola winning on third read 56.2% to 41.6%

HD 47 Feki Pouha winning on third read 49.9% to 45.5%  

Tupola and Pouha are the only Republican challengers to win--and they were running in districts where Aiona chalked up a double-digit margin of victory.  All other Republican non-incumbents lost.  Why?  Because the result is shaped by the top of the ticket and Duke failed to overcome the abortion onslaught.  Was it winnable?  Yes.  Republicans handily defeated the exact same abortion-related messaging in Colorado.

Honolulu Council: A moment of silence for Tommy Waters.  Trevor Ozawa wins by 47 votes in the East Oahu Dist 4 race. 

GMOs

Maui Anti-GMO initiative losing 59% no – 40% yes first read, 54% - 43% second read, wins 50% to 48.1% on third read (50.2 to 47.9 on fourth read).  In almost mirror-image contrast to the people who voted absentee, same-day voters voted 59% to 41% in favor of the anti-GMO initiative.  Only 1.9% cast blank ballots.

There is very little partisan difference between absentee and same-day voters.  Ige had 52.6% of the vote on first read as compared to 49.0% on final read.

The strong difference between absentee and same-day voters on anti-GMO issues for both Kauai and Maui could show that absentee voters are far more thoughtful and therefore able to recognize the utter insanity of anti-GMO rhetoric.  On both islands, same-day voters were more susceptible to anti-GMO hype. 

On the other hand it could reflect organized voters voting a union line (Democrat) or a pro-science, pro-agriculture line (Republican) as opposed to unorganized voters showing up on Election Day.  If this is so, the lack of a partisan difference is interesting.

Note: This discrepancy exists only because voters have a choice between absentee and same-day voting.  As the narrow results on GMO labeling in Oregon show, all absentee voting systems (such as Oregon's) do not make voters smarter.   

Kauai Anti-GMO Mayoral candidate Dustin Barca losing 65.8%  to 28.2% (61-34 on third read)

Kauai anti-GMO council incumbents were stomped on first read, but as on Maui, they came back strong on the second and third read.  Top seven finishers are elected:

• JoAnn Yukimura 8th place (moves up to 5th place on third read)
• Mason Chock 9th (moves up to 6th on third read)
• Gary Hooser 11th (moves up to 7th on third read)
• Tim Bynum 13th (12th on third read)

Maui Anti-GMO Mayoral candidate Tamara Patlin losing 59.9% to 34.2%  (55-39 on third read)

Maui Anti-GMO council incumbent Elle Cochran losing 44.3% to 45.6% on first read, pulls ahead on second read 45.0% to 44.5% and wins 48% to 41% on third read.

Other Maui anti-GMO council losers include Nick Nikhilananda at 25.4% and John Fitzpatrick at 30.2% on third read.

On Hawaii Island, anti-GMO council candidate Tiffany Edwards Hunt lost 50% -44% in Puna District 5.  The only Hawaii County anti-GMO winner is CD9 Kamuela where anti-GMO incumbent Margaret Willie wins 57% - 39% on third read.

(Colorado GMO labeling lost 69% to 31%.  Oregon GMO labeling is losing 51% to 49%.)

OHA:

OHA incumbents are cruising to reelection both at-large and Maui.  Lei Ahu Isa is in third place in the race for three at-large OHA trustee seats.  Kelii Akina, who opposes OHA's nation building project, is 5th.  Mililani Trask, who supports nation building, but opposes OHA involvement in it, is 4th. 

STATEWIDE INITIATIVES: 

Early Childhood Education losing 45.8% yes to 49.2% no on first read, 44.5% yes to 50.7% no on second read, and 43.5% to 51.9% on third read.

Disclosure of Judicial Nominees winning statewide 81.9% to 11.2% on third read.

Voters want to keep judges' retirement age at 70 by a 72.7% to 22.1% margin on third read.

Bonds to repair dams and reservoirs wins 63.3% to 28.8% on third read.

Bonds to finance projects on less-than-important ag lands winning 51.2% to 39.9% on first read, still winning 50.8% yes to 40.4% no on second read, and just barely over the top with 50.1% yes to 41.3% no on third read.