Today marks the beginning of The Garden Island’s extended Elections 2006 coverage. Every Sunday until election day, Nov. 7, look to page 3 in the A section to read all the latest on what’s going on around the island and
Today marks the beginning of The Garden Island’s extended Elections 2006 coverage. Every Sunday until election day, Nov. 7, look to page 3 in the A section to read all the latest on what’s going on around the island and the state. We plan the more extensive coverage of the races that will most affect Kaua‘i, including those at the local, state and federal levels.
There are 111 races total statewide.
The campaign season is promising to be a lively one here on Kaua‘i with all seven County Council seats up for grabs, as well as the mayor’s office.
Ed Case announced in February that he was going to give up his 2nd Congressional District seat to challenge U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka for the Democratic berth in the primary Sept. 23. That race is being considered a litmus test of whether Hawai‘i is ready for a changing of the guard. The 81-year-old Akaka is running for his fourth term, and Case’s 53 years makes him the relatively young upstart. No Republican challenger has announced intentions to run.
Case will be forced to give up his congressional seat to run for senator. A slew of candidates stepped in to fill the void created by Case’s announcement. Among the candidates for the 2nd Congressional seat is Kaua‘i’s own state senator, Democrat Gary Hooser. Several others have taken out nomination papers including O‘ahu’s Joe Zuiker, a marathon runner who spent a few days on Kaua‘i this week running for office … literally running the roads, spreading his message. State Rep. Brian Schatz, D-Tantalus, Makiki, McCully, also spent a few days on Kaua‘i this week campaigning for the 2nd District.
Gov. Linda Lingle is up for reelection, as is Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona. So far neither has a challenger that could pose a serious threat.
Here on Kaua‘i, the races for mayor and county council took an interesting turn when former Kaua‘i Police Department chief K.C. Lum retired and took out nomination papers to run for either mayor or county council. Kaua‘i County Council member James Tokioka announced his intention in January to run for the state House of Representatives District 15 seat (Lihu‘e-Koloa) being vacated by Lihu‘e Democrat Ezra Kanoho. Tokioka is running as a Democrat, while Ron Agor will challenge for theRepublican ticket.
On these pages we plan to bring these races to life. The Elections 2006 page will have candidate profiles, issues stories specific to the race as well as a behind the scenes look at the peole behind the candidates — the working stiffs, the advance men, the political spin meisters.
We plan to run a regular column that will offer an inside look at the quirky, humorous and often terrifying aspects of running a campaign.
So please join us over the next several months and enjoy our attempt to inform, educate and enlighten.
This first week includes a listing of the races occurring this campaign season, and a candidate profile or two. We plan on profiling every candidate of consequence for Kaua‘i on these pages as well.
Our Elections 2006 page will also have a special area on our Web site www.kauaiworld.com
Go to the Web site and look for the Elections 2006 logo you see on this page.
