Hawaii legislature to see 11 new faces even before November election

The state House and Senate will welcome at least 11 new faces for the next legislative session, even before the Nov. 5 general election, which could result in more incumbent upsets.

No matter what happens in November, the Legislature continues to see a quiet changing of the guard as legislators retire, leave for other opportunities or, unfortunately, die, as in the case of Rep. Mark Nakashima, (D, Hamakua-Hilo).

He was running unopposed and assured of reelection to represent House District 1 again after first being elected in 2008. Following Nakashima’s death on July 11 at age 61, Gov. Josh Green announced on Aug. 30 that he appointed Matthias Kusch, a retired Hawaii County Fire Department battalion chief, to replace Nakashima.

Green’s office described Kusch as a coffee and citrus farmer, affordable housing advocate, president of Hilo Bayfront Trails, and a Windward Planning Commission member who maintains “a variety of other business and volunteer ventures.”

All 51 House seats and 13 of 25 Senate seats are up this year.

The turnover underscores the vulnerability of incumbents in districts where only a few hundred votes can determine the difference between victory and defeat, especially in a state with a history of voter apathy.

The result this election year: “There’s a lot of churn,” said Colin Moore, who teaches public policy at the University of Hawaii and serves as associate professor at the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization.

Among the newcomers when the next legislative session begins in January will be former Board of Education member Kim Coco Iwamoto, who defeated House Speaker Scott Saiki (D, Ala Moana-Kakaako-Downtown) in her third run to represent House District 25.

Iwamoto’s victory also triggered a leadership vacuum in the House, which Democrats will figure out among the survivors of the general election.

Iwamoto beat Saiki by 256 votes — 2,668 for Iwamoto compared with 2,412 for the incumbent. She has no opponent in November so won the seat outright in the August primary.

“There will be a lot of new faces and we’ll also have a new speaker,” Moore said.

There has been plenty of talk — but no action — on persistent proposals for the Legislature to impose term limits on itself, unlike every other elected body in Hawaii.

The recommendation was among a slate of proposals made by the Commission to Improve Standards of Conduct that Saiki created after former state Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English and then-state Rep. Ty J.K. Cullen pleaded guilty in 2022 to felony bribery charges to promote and kill legislation to benefit a Hawaii company.

Without term limits for state representatives and senators, Moore said the ongoing turnover — whether by retirement or the will of voters — is good for Hawaii governance and democracy.

“Absolutely this is actually what you want to see,” Moore said. “I don’t think it’s healthy to have incumbents in their seat for decades and decades.”

Departures open seats

On the final day of the last legislative session in May, the House and Senate bid aloha to five veteran legislators who had decades of combined service: Sen. Maile Shimabukuro (D, Nanakuli-Waianae-Makaha) and Reps. Richard Onishi, (D, Hilo); Cedric Gates (D, Waianae-Makaha); Bert Kobayashi (D, Kahala-Kaimuki-Kapahulu) and Scott Nishimoto (D, Moiliili-McCully).

Their departures helped create vacancies in the Legislature that will continue to add fresh energy after the 2023 legislative session saw the House welcome a record 16 freshmen, followed by Green filling two vacancies with then-new Reps. Luke A. Evslin (D, Wailua-Lihue) and Trish La Chica (D, Waipio-­Mililani).

This year Green added two more appointments: Reps. May Besario Mizuno (D, Kamehameha Heights-­Kalihi Valley) and Tyson K. Miyake (D, Wailuku-Waikapu).

Mizuno was appointed by Green to represent House District 29 after he picked Mizuno’s husband, then-Rep. John Mizuno, to serve as the state’s homeless coordinator. But in last month’s Democratic Party primary election, Ikaika Hussey beat Mizuno by 629 votes — 1,601 for Hussey compared with 981 for Mizuno.

Now Hussey faces Republican Carole Kaapu in the general election.

Shirley Ann Templo also beat an incumbent — Rep. Sonny Ganaden (D, Kalihi-­Kalihi Kai-Hickam Village) — to represent the House District 30 seat. Templo won with just 757 votes compared with 708 for Ganaden.

She now goes up against Republican P.M. Azinga in the general.