LIHUE — Incumbent Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. tallied large numbers in Saturday’s primary election and will square off against Dustin Barca in November. With 15 of 16 Kauai precincts reporting by press time, Carvalho had a commanding 10,466 votes (57.3 percent)
LIHUE — Incumbent Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. tallied large numbers in Saturday’s primary election and will square off against Dustin Barca in November.
With 15 of 16 Kauai precincts reporting by press time, Carvalho had a commanding 10,466 votes (57.3 percent) over Barca’s 5,669 votes (31 percent).
“I just want to say thank you to our supporters, to Kauai,” Carvalho said by phone. “I think the numbers show we’re doing a good job.”
While he is excited about the outcome, Carvalho is taking nothing for granted.
“We’re going to be continuing to work hard” in the coming months, he said.
Barca, a professional surfer and mixed martial arts fighter, who campaigned against genetically modified organisms and for cultural revival, described Saturday’s numbers — both his own and other local races — as somewhat “baffling.”
“It’s almost around what I thought, for now,” he said, with disappointment in his voice.
“I’m always disappointed. I always like to strive for perfection. I’m in no celebration whatsoever. I’m just learning from our mistakes.”
But Barca is far from finished, and intends to make a hard push leading up to Nov. 4. Voters, however, will have to wait to see what exactly that will mean.
“Definitely going to pick up the pace,” he said. “If I gave all my secrets, I’d be dumb.”
The other two candidates, Debralynn DeSilva Carveiro and Curtis Lake, combined for just 4 percent of the vote. At press time, DeSilva had 533 votes (2.9 percent). Lake had 195 votes (1.1 percent). Blank votes accounted for 7.6 percent of the total.
Carveiro said she had no regrets.
“Whatever happens happens, it’s meant to be,” she said. “It’s a learning experience and you know, I’m going to do it again.”
Lake could not be reached for comment.
Carvalho took over as mayor of Kauai and Niihau in 2008 when a special election had to be called after the death of former Mayor Bryan Baptiste.
In his 2010 bid for re-election, Carvalho easily defeated his challenger, Kekaha resident Diana LaBedz, tallying 17,514 votes (77 percent) to LaBedz’s 3,634 votes (16 percent).
Barca launched his first bid for public office in May with a “Run for Mayor,” in which he paddled from Kee to Polihale and ran around the island from Polihale to Kee “to pay tribute to some of our most historically significant areas, talk story with community members and find out more about their concerns and visions for Kauai,” a statement read.
