Musings: Anti-GMO candidates stumble in Hawaii

Anti-GMO candidates took a tumble in many Hawaii races, while others face a tough fight in the general.

On Kauai, Councilman Gary Hooser lagged at ninth place in a race that will elect seven members to that panel. He ended the primary with just 5,035 votes — a significant drop from his 2014 general election showing of 8,257 votes.

2016 Primary results

Despite spending more money than any other Kauai Council candidate, Hooser won less than half the votes collected by top vote-getter Derek Kawakami, who returns triumphantly to the Council after serving in the state House.

Hooser, who spent much of his war chest on the primary, faces a grueling bid to retain his seat. He's trailing sixth-place newcomer Arthur Brun by 1,035 votes and seventh place candidate Mason Chock by nearly 600 votes. JoAnn Yukimura took eighth, raising doubts as to her future on the Council, as well.

Hooser scored well in the Hanalei and Kilauea precincts. But he began to lose ground in his home region of Kapaa and totally tanked on the westside, where the seed fields are located.

Democrat Nadine Nakamura is poised to assume Kawakami's 14^th District House seat after trouncing challenger Fern Rosenstiel. Despite support from the Center for Food Safety PAC, Rosenstiel took just 32.6 percent of the vote.

Rosenstiel was one of four candidates directly associated with Hooser's HAPA — and all of them failed. Rosenstiel attended HAPA's Kuleana Academy, a candidate training program, as did Tiare Lawrence, who narrowly lost her run for a Maui House seat. 

Meanwhile HAPA Board members Ikaika Hussey and Kim Coco Iwamoto were soundly defeated in their respective bids for Oahu state House and Senate seats.

Oahu Rep. Ken Ito easily beat contender Patrick Shea, who was endorsed by the anti-GMO crowd. But Sen. Russell Ruderman, a staunch anti-GMO candidate, defeated Greggor Illagan, the Big Island Councilman seeking his seat.

On Maui, anti-GMO candidates Richard Abbett and Alex Haller failed to unseat Rep. Joe Souki and Rep. Lynn Decoite, respectively. But Rep. Kaniela Ing easily fended off challenger Deidre Tegarden, even though Ing lied about the events that led to his recent arrest on various vehicle-related charges.

In the Maui Council races, where the top two vote-getters go on to the general, Dain Kane will square off against Alika Atay, Don Couch will face Kelly King, Mike White will go against Trinette Furtado and Yuki Sugimura will take on Napua Nakasone. Atay, King, Furtado and Nakasone, all of whom came in second, were endorsed by the anti-GMO crowd.

On the Big Island, Councilwoman Margaret Wille, who introduced the anti-GMO legislation there, is fighting to keep her seat. Challenger Tim Richards edged ahead of her by 78 votes. Jen Ruggles and Danny Paleka are in another tight race. Ruggles ended the night 302 votes ahead of Paleka, the incumbent. 

I wonder if voters know Jen lied about her role as a carpetbagging paid political operative in Kauai's Bill 2491 fight. Or maybe, as with Ing, a lying isn't a deal-breaker for some folks.