Overview
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The 18th District primary winner will win the seat
This election year, the state House will get a slight makeover with at least six new representatives, while the Senate will welcome at least two new members to its chamber.
But most of the races for the 63 open seats in the Legislature will not be decided until the general election in November.
The Sept. 20 primary will be marked by a record 20 House Democrats without opposition, as well as two Senate Democrats and two House Republicans running unopposed.
The 18th Senate District seat is held by Sen. Clarence Nishihara, who was first elected in 2004. He is being challenged by state Rep. Alex Sonson, who was first elected to the House seat representing that district in 2004.
With no Republican in the contest, the winner of the primary will win the Senate seat.
Voters on the Big Island will have to choose a new senator to represent the 1st District seat, which is being vacated by Sen. Lorraine Inouye. Inouye is running for Big Island mayor.
The race for the 1st District seat will not be decided until November, with only two candidates: Democratic state Rep. Dwight Takamine and Republican Ted Hong, a lawyer and staunch supporter of Gov. Linda Lingle.
At least one Senate seat will switch parties: that of Republican Sen. Paul Whalen, who decided against a bid for re-election. The race will be decided in the primary between two Democrats: state Rep. Josh Green and former Big Island Councilwoman Virginia Isbell.
As Sonson, Takamine and Green vie for the Senate, they will leave their seats vacant. Two others will also leave their seats vacant: Rep. Tommy Waters and Rep. Kirk Caldwell.
Waters, who had served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, resigned, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and concentrate on his private law practice.
Three Democrats — J. Ikaika Anderson, Shawn Christensen and Chris Lee — will face off in the primary, with the winner to take on former House Minority Leader Quentin Kawananakoa, who is seeking a return to state office after his unsuccessful run for Congress two years ago.
Caldwell, the House majority leader since 2006, is left without an office to run for following the chaos of the July 22 filing deadline for candidates.
After City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi declared her intent to run for mayor just hours before the deadline, Caldwell — at the behest of Mayor Mufi Hannemann — hastily filed paperwork to run for her seat.
His candidacy ultimately was rejected by the city clerk, who ruled he did not properly resign from his House race, making him a candidate for two offices at once.
Democrats were allowed to name a replacement candidate for the House seat, accountant Isaac Choy, but his candidacy is being challenged on procedural grounds by the state Republican Party.
Another race to follow in the House primary is in the 44th District, representing Kalaeloa-Nanakuli. Incumbent Rep. Karen Awana, who switched parties last year to become a Democrat, faces a challenge from Hanalei Aipoalani, who was among 10 Democrats seeking the 2nd Congressional District seat that was vacated by Ed Case in 2006.
