KAILUA-KONA — The Democratic primary card in the race for House District 6 is robust, featuring three candidates with varying backgrounds vying for the nomination.
The incumbent is Rep. Nicole Lowen, a two-term legislator who serves as vice chair for both the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection and the House Committee on Ocean, Marine Resources and Hawaiian Affairs. She also sits on the Committees on Finance and on Water and Land.
Lowen said the accomplishments of which she is most proud include securing funding for Hawaii Community College — Palamanui in West Hawaii, as well as the Kona Judiciary Complex and the Queen Kaahumanu Highway project. She also noted multiple bills, which brought back more than $1 million to Kona coffee farmers to help combat the coffee berry borer.
“All told, it has been over $300 million in funding (I have helped secure) since 2012 when I took office, which is coming toward schools, hospitals, harbors and roads,” Lowen said. “All of this helps build our infrastructure. It creates jobs … and it is positive development for things we need in West Hawaii, which has traditionally been underserved compared to the Hilo side.”
Lowen, who has lived in Kailua-Kona for two decades, served as a teacher at Hawaii Montessori Schools for 10 years. She later returned to college and earned her master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Hawaii. She also worked for former Rep. Denny Coffman when he served in the state House.
If re-elected, Lowen said she hopes to use her background in energy and environmental policy in concert with her position on various committees dealing directly with those issues to help Hawaii meet its goal of 100 percent renewable energy by 2045, particularly by creating access to renewable energy for all individuals regardless of income level.
Going forward, Lowen is also looking to issues of homelessness and affordable housing. She plans to push policy to create more housing inventory, increase funding for homeless services and create more shelter space.
“I have worked hard the last four years and proven I can be effective, get bills passed, bring home funding and be a positive leader for our community,” Lowen said. “I really care about Kona, and I think I’ve shown that.”
The competition
One of Lowen’s competitors is 22-year-old Palamanui college student, Bronsten Kossow. A lifelong resident of Kailua-Kona, Kossow is making his first bid for public office.
He responded to questions about his age and preparedness saying that his youth is not a detriment, but rather an advantage, and one that is much needed in the prevailing political landscape across Hawaii.
“I felt like our community needed a fresh mindset,” Kossow said. “Being young, it’s important to get the view of the younger generation. The younger generation needs to step up to the plate, take on specific issues and move us forward in a better direction than we currently are (moving).”
Kossow said the most prevalent problem facing West Hawaii is homelessness. While Kossow sees the value of the Housing First model, which prioritizes long-term housing solutions over other approaches, he said there must be more of a focus on getting people off the street immediately.
“There are a lot of unsheltered homeless across the island, not just my district,” Kossow said. “It’s about how we can help our entire state move forward with affordable housing and shelters for people who can’t access basic necessities as a human right.”
A three-candidate race
The third candidate on the Democratic ballot is Thomas Mann, a resident of Kailua-Kona for the past three years.
Mann gained some notoriety last October after chaining himself to the Kailua Pier in protest of the 50 percent pier rental discount afforded to Ironman.
“I saw a wrong and I wanted to right it,” he said.
Mann cited a long career in the military and his experience working in the financial industry as reasons why he is the most qualified candidate in the race.
Beyond adjustments to West Hawaii’s arrangements with Ironman, Mann is advocating more attention be paid to homelessness and wants to push for all coffee under the Kona label to require a verified minimum of 55 percent Kona beans.
He has also proposed a revamped 911 system, which he says could create a faster, more efficient emergency-response process with a superior ability to accurately locate distressed individuals.
Mann describes himself as a disabled American veteran with a mental condition that can be triggered by stressful situations. He has had multiple encounters with law enforcement, but has never been arrested in Hawaii.
Police did note that after one encounter, they recommended Mann undergo an emergency examination, which resulted in a short hospital stay.
Mann asserted that if he were elected, his condition would not be a detriment to his duties.
“On the surface, you could say some of my behavior is unusual, but that is the same unusual behavior that allowed me to go from one three-letter organization to another as an Army guy (doing things) no one else ever knew how to do,” Mann said.
The winner of the Democratic primary will face off against Bruce Pratt in the general election, who is running unopposed in the Republican primary.
