Editor’s note: This story was updated at 9:34 a.m. on Sunday.

Four of the nine Hawai‘i County Council seats may be headed for a runoff race in November, according to preliminary results of Saturday’s primary election.

The latest printout posted Sunday for the 2026 primary election, preliminary results show two incumbents, Heather Kimball and Dennis “Fresh” Onishi, keeping their seats for Hawai‘i County Council, and a third incumbent, Jennifer “Jenn” Kagiwada, will possibly be headed for a runoff race in the general election on Nov. 3.

Four of the nine council seats were open, with three council members unable to run due to term limits and a fourth deciding not to seek re-election.

Candidates who receive 50% plus one vote in the primary win the contest outright. In the races where no one reached that threshold, the top two vote-getters proceed to a runoff in the general election.

Candidates in the Council District 5 race to represent Upper Puna, which was one of the open seats, could be headed for a recount, according to state law, as the top three vote-getters, Shannon Matson, Ikaika Rodenhurst and Dawn Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, are within 100 votes of each other.

Council Districts 4 and 6 were also open seats and will be headed for a runoff.

Manu Powers secured 58% of the vote for the Hawai‘i County Council seat for North Kona.

Holeka Inaba, who represents District 8, and James Hustace, who represents District 9, were unopposed and keep their seats.

There are 134,573 registered voters on Hawai‘i Island, according to the State Election Office printout for election results. The turnout of the primary was 44,027 voters or 32.7%.

District 1

At 9 a.m. on Sunday, 54-year-old Kimball had 56.4% of the vote with 2,680 votes against challengers Ren del Rosario, who had 32.8%, or 1,557 votes, and former UFC champion BJ Penn, who had 4.9%, or 234 votes.

Kimball has represented portions of North Hilo and the Hāmākua Coast for the past 6 years. This will be her fourth and final two-year term.

Kimball said she was grateful for the continued community support for her final term on the council.

“I have dedicated my heart and soul to serving District 1 and am thankful to have the opportunity to do this meaningful work for another term,” she said.

District 2

District 2 incumbent 61-year-old Jennifer “Jenn” Kagiwada appears to be headed for a runoff, having secured only 46.5% of the vote, or 2,975 votes. With blank votes taken out, the council member had 50% of the vote.

District 2 was the most crowded council race, where Kagiwada, who is seeking re-election for a third 2-year term, had competition from Blaine Bautista, JoNelle Fukushima, Wendy Botelho and William Halversen.

Botelho has the second most votes with 1,041, or 16.3%, followed by Fukushima with 923 votes, or 14.4%.

Bautista received 834 votes, or 13%, and Halversen garnered 110 votes, or 1.7%.

District 3

District 3 incumbent Dennis “Fresh” Onishi secured 59.2% of the vote, with 3,427 votes against his challenger, Kelton Chang, who garnered 1,971 votes, or 34.1%.

Since Onishi faced one opponent in the primary, he only needed to secure more votes than Chang to retain his seat for a second 2-year term.

District 4

Former council member Eileen O’Hara and Lloyd Enriquez look to be the top two vote-getters of the primary race in District 4.

Preliminary results updated Sunday morning show O’Hara with 1,588 votes, or 33.6%, and Enriquez with 1,149 votes, or 24.3%. They will likely go head-to-head in the Nov. 3 general election.

With Hawaiʻi County Council member Ashley Kierkiewicz unable to seek re-election because of term limits, four candidates competed for the open seat to represent Lower Puna.

Along with O’Hara and Enriquez, Shannon Smiley Burrows, and Cyd Makanui Hoffeld also campaigned for the vacant seat.

Burrows received 752 votes. Hoffeld garnered 815 votes.

District 5

As of Sunday morning, the District 5 seat to represent Upper Puna was still neck-and-neck between Shannon Matson with 981 votes, Ikaika Rodenhurst with 951 votes and Dawn Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder with 905.

The seat was left vacant by Hawaiʻi County Council Member Matt Kānealiʻi-Kleinfelder, who was unable to pursue re-election because of term limits.

Candidate Seaula Jr. Tupaʻi also sought to capture the seat and garnered 804 votes so far. Chantel Mākuaole-Perrin garnered 428 votes.

There will likely be recount since the margin of votes is less than 100 between the top three candidates. Big Island Now provide more details as they become available.

District 6

Guy Enriques and Zed Ka‘apana Aki were still leading the District 6 race for a chance to represent South Kona and Ka‘ū on the council as of Sunday morning.

Enriques has garnered 27.7% of the vote, with 1,362 votes, and Aki has 20.8%, or 1,023 votes. There could be a recount as Justin Canelas came within 90 votes of Aki, garnering 933 votes at 19%.

Sitting Kaʻū District council member Michelle Galimba did not seek re-election, which left her seat up for grabs. Enriques and Aki entered the contest along with three other candidates.

Candidate Kyle Kepano Jones received 342 votes, and Jason Masters received 767.

District 7

Manu Powers maintained her commanding lead for the District 7 seat to represent North Kona outright. As of Sunday morning, Powers has garnered 58.7% of the vote, or 2,659 votes.

Following behind Powers is Edgar “Eddie O” Ombac with 862 votes and Mark Henriques with 507.

Powers said she takes this kuleana seriously and is “deeply humbled” by the trust rthe community has put into her.

“My warmest aloha and congratulations to Mark and Eddie on an excellent race,” Powers said. Campaigning is hard work, especially while you are managing commitments and trying to make a living all the while. I look forward to the education and hard work to follow in the name our community and the people who call it home.”

The seat was left open by council member Rebecca Villegas, who was unable to run for re-election because of term limits.