Bissen, Rapozo winners in Maui and Kauai mayoral races

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen overcame a wave of special interest spending in support of his opponent to win reelection Tuesday.

Longtime County Council member Yuki Lei Sugimura, who ran against Bissen in part on a message of making Maui more affordable, was endorsed by the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters and the Hawaii Realtors political action committee. Independent expenditures touting her candidacy ran on statewide television in the waning days of the race.

The campaign for mayor played out against the tumultuous economic recovery that has been ongoing since the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires in Lahaina and Upcountry Maui. Bissen’s reelection campaign centered on acknowledging and addressing the high cost of living. He also touted his work to pursue public ownership of critical water systems as essential to life on Maui.

Bissen is a former county prosecutor who retired as chief judge of Maui’s 2nd Circuit Court in 2021 and was elected mayor in 2022. He was in office less than a year when a raging wildfire tore through Lahaina, killing 102 people and leaving thousands more homeless.

Bissen beat Sugimura, who has represented Upcountry Maui on the County Council since 2016. She was born and raised in Wailuku and is a small business owner who worked as a field representative for U.S. Sens. Daniel Akaka and Mazie Hirono.

Sugimura opposed Bissen’s controversial Bill 9 that requires 6,208 vacation rentals in West and South Maui on the so-called Mina­toya list of older properties, which were allowed to continue operating as vacation rentals, to convert to long-term housing for Maui residents.

The measure was passed the Council by a 5-3 vote. Bissen, who proposed Bill 9 after rental prices spiked as fire survivors struggled to find housing, signed it into law in December.

On Kauai, County Council member Mel Rapozo was elected mayor after defeating former Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., who also currently sits on the Council. Rapozo had run for mayor twice before.

He will replace Mayor Derek Kawakami, who termed out of county office and easily won his election for lieutenant governor alongside Gov. Josh Green.

Carvalho was mayor from 2008 to 2018 and has served on the County Council since 2020. Born and raised on Kauai, he lives in the Wailua Homesteads.

Rapozo’s third campaign for mayor followed 13 years with the Kauai Police Department and 21 years in the Hawaii Air National Guard. He also served on the County Council from 2002-2008, 2010-2018 and since 2022.

Rapozo was born and raised on Kauai and lives in Wailua.

His campaign focused on plans to build more affordable housing while ensuring roads, water systems, wastewater facilities and other public infrastructure can support “responsible growth.”

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