Final Read—Hawaii Election Results
Statewide Election Results:
Hawaii’s Voter Turnout Was Almost A Historic Low
CB: …About 52.6 percent of registered voters in Hawaii cast ballots in the general election, according to final results released Wednesday morning. In all, 398,398 people voted.
That percentage barely exceeded the all-time low turnout for a general election of 52.3 percent in 2014….
read … Hawaii’s Voter Turnout Was Almost A Historic Low
Exit Poll: Hawaii voters say nation headed wrong way
AP: …As voters cast ballots for governor, U.S. Senate and members of Congress in today’s elections, AP VoteCast found that 25 percent of Hawaii voters said the country is on the right track, compared with 74 percent who said the country is headed in the wrong direction….
Voters considered several issues to be important to their vote in this midterm election, including health care (22 percent), the economy (20 percent), immigration (15 percent), the environment (12 percent) and terrorism (9 percent)….
Views of economic conditions in the country are mixed — 53 percent of voters said the nation’s economy is not good, compared with 47 percent who said it’s good….
For 34 percent of Hawaii voters, President Donald Trump was not a factor they considered while casting their vote. By comparison, 65 percent said Trump was a reason for their vote….
58 percent of Hawaii voters said which party will hold control was very important as they considered their vote. Another 25 percent said it was somewhat important….
read … VoteCast: Hawaii voters say nation headed wrong way
Senate Monopoly Broken: Republican Kurt Fevella beats Matt LoPresti in Ewa Beach
SA: …The two candidates have been political adversaries since serving together on the Ewa Neighborhood Board. Fevella once called the police on LoPresti, saying he felt threatened by him following a contentious board meeting. LoPresti also called the cops on Fevella and his 2016 Republican challenger in the House, Bryan Jeremiah, claiming the two had assaulted him while on the campaign trail. The charges were eventually dropped.
Fevella worked to capitalize during his campaign on an embarrassing incident in the primary in which LoPresti was caught on video stealing his primary rival’s campaign material while canvassing at a home. LoPresti said at the time that he had “deep regret” over his actions and that he had returned the flyers the next day….
read … Republican Kurt Fevella moves ahead of Matt LoPresti in state Senate race for Ewa Beach
Recycling Crazy: Rida Cabanilla re-replaces Matt Lopresti in State House
CB: District 41 (Ewa, Ewa Beach, Ewa Gentry, Ewa Villages, Hoakalei, Ocean Pointe) — Democrat Rida Cabanilla, a former lawmaker, was poised to return to the Legislature. She had 50.3 percent of the vote to 43.2 percent for Republican Chris Fidelibus. The seat was being vacated by Rep. LoPresti….
Cabanilla Flashbacks:
read … Return to Bizarro World
Oahu: 7,000 Late-Arriving Absentee Ballots Counted Overnight Put Ozawa Over the top by 22 votes
SA: …In one of the closest contests of election night, former state Rep. Tommy Waters held a slim 72-vote lead over incumbent Honolulu City Councilman Trevor Ozawa, according to the third printout of results.
The outcome, however, may still be in question. State election officials said at about 10 p.m. that there were still roughly 7,000 Oahu votes yet to be counted, consisting largely of absentee mail-in ballots that were physically dropped off at various precincts and the city clerk’s office Tuesday rather than mailed. The final results are not expected until sometime Wednesday morning.….
read … Waters Clings To Slight Lead Over Ozawa
Assorted Anti-GMO Nuts—Election Results
Kauai County overwhelmingly votes to keep term limits
KGI: …Relating to term limits for the office of Councilmember: Shall the term limit of office for council members be removed?
Yes, 3,911, 16.2 percent; No, 17,950, 74.1 percent…
read … County overwhelmingly votes to keep term limits
Big Island Voters Say Yes to Fiscal Notes, Transparency
WHT: …With all 43 precincts reporting, a charter amendment requiring the county Salary Commission to publish notices in local papers, hold at least one public hearing, and provide a report on its findings at least 30 days before approving changes to salaries for administrators and council members was passing with around 75 percent approval. Hilo Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy proposed the ballot initiative after the commission approved double-digit raises for many positions. She said it’s clear voters want more oversight over raises for top officials.….
The amendment also requires salary changes of 10 percent or more to receive the support of two-thirds of commission members….
Another charter amendment requiring ballot initiatives that would change the charter to be accompanied with a fiscal impact statement also was passing with around 73 percent in favor. That amendment was sponsored by Hilo Councilman Aaron Chung….
read … Voters say yes to charter measures
Maui Voters Want Tougher Fines For Unlicensed Airbnbs
CB: …In a closely watched proposal to toughen penalties for operating illegal short-term vacation rentals, Maui voters were strongly favoring a measure to increase penalties for operating unpermitted short-term vacation rentals.
The measure on Maui ballots would increase from the current $1,000 to up to $20,000 the amount a person could be fined for operating a short-term rental without a permit. The measure also would impose a $10,000 fine for each day the illegal rental persists. It also applies to Lanai and Molokai, which are part of Maui County.
As of Tuesday night, results showed 51.6 percent favoring the penalty increase and 37.8 percent opposing it.
Voters have a direct say in the matter because the Maui County Charter generally limited fines to $1,000, and amending the charter requires approval of the voters….
Specifically, the ballot asked voters, “Shall the Charter be amended, effective January 2, 2019, to increase the penalty for the operation of a transient accommodation without a necessary permit from the current $1,000 amount to a civil fine of up to $20,000 plus $10,000 per day for each day the unlawful operation persists?”…
read … Maui Voters Want Tougher Fines For Unlicensed Airbnbs
Suicide in isles underreported
SA: …The Star-Adv headline, “Isle bullying on par with U.S.” (Star-Advertiser, Nov. 1), was incomplete.
Rather than congratulating ourselves for having the same rate of bullying as the rest of the country, we should be very concerned that our teen suicide attempt rate is significantly higher than the rest of the country (10 percent versus 7.4 percent).
That’s one in 10 — or three in every classroom — of our high school students being so desperate that they want to die. This is not mentioned until the 11th paragraph, and then only gets one paragraph of a lengthy article. Suicide is the leading cause of death of young people age 18-24 in Hawaii, whereas the rest of the country it is the second- leading cause….
Related: Hawaii DoE: 10% of Students Consider Suicide Each Year
read … Suicide in isles underreported
If You Really Believe in Sea-Level Rise You will Change rail route
SA: …Last month, in the article entitled “Swamped” (Star-Advertiser, Oct. 2), we learned that future sea level rise (SLR) will severely impact low-lying portions of central Honolulu from Waikiki to the airport, with “flooding at high tide on a daily basis within only two or three decades.” These flooded areas include the final five miles of the current rail route, meaning that seven of the proposed rail stations, from Middle Street to Ala Moana Center, will experience daily flooding as early as 2040, 14 years after planned completion (2026).
With rail construction to Middle Street still three years away (2021), and with no clear plan for construction of the final five miles of the current project, now is the time to change the route after Middle Street to both reach UH-Manoa more efficiently and to plan for future sea level rise. Elevated rail in the urban core is a long-term investment with a lifespan of 50-100 years. It is both short-sighted and wasteful to spend billions of dollars on infrastructure in areas that will be experiencing daily floods within 20 years….
read … Change rail route for UH, flooding
How Self-Obsessed are Hawaii Environmentalists?
CB: …Could we be the next greatest generation?
I pondered this idea while at the Zócalo Public Square “What Can Hawaii Teach the World About Climate Change” meeting a few weeks ago, when University of Hawaii Manoa geologist Chip Fletcher suggested that our world needed action at the level of armies of men and women deployed all over the world to combat climate change….
The World War II level of engagement to fight climate change seemed like an apt metaphor. As Dr. Fletcher spoke, I imagined uniformed troops fanning out over China and India, releasing carbon sequestering algae into water like bombs, distributing clean fuel cookstoves like the GIs tossed chocolate bars to liberated villagers, and marching and unfolding and positioning field upon field of solar panels.
At home during the war, ordinary citizens helped out on the home front with small, smart, compounding actions such as victory gardens and scrap drives. Posters you have seen encouraged: We Can Do It! These ideas were borne out of a true scarcity of resources.
Today, we only seem awash in plenty, but we need to behave like our self-created truth…. (Wow. Just wow.)
read … How Self-Obsessed are Hawaii Environmentalists?
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