Hawai‘i County Will Have New Mayor

Hawai‘i County will welcome in a new mayor in the upcoming term.

Former Prosecuting Attorney Mitch Roth and Ikaika Marzo will compete in a runoff in November to decide who will assume the mantle of Hawai‘i County Mayor after Harry Kim was defeated in Saturday’s primary.

Roth took 31.1% of the vote with 20,225 ballots cast in his favor, while Marzo claimed 21.2% of the vote with 13,764 ballots submitted for him. Three-time and current Mayor Harry Kim finished third with 15.4% of the vote.

In other election news, Jeanné Kapela captured the Democratic nomination of the District 5 State House Seat over Colehour Bondera in a rout. Kapela earned 3,325 votes to Bondera’s 1,457 votes.

Rebecca Villegas captured the contested Hawai‘i County Council Chair for Kona’s 7th District over Jane Clement by a total of 3,167 votes to Clement’s 2,349 votes.