Kauai

On Kauai, the big win was Senator Gary Hooser’s blowout of former Republican Mayor Maryanne Kusaka. Hooser received 16,274 votes to Kusaka’s 8,270 votes—almost a two to one margin. This was another race expected to be close because of
Governor Lingle’s personal involvement and Republican efforts to target and defeat Hooser.

Hermina Morita (House District 14) Kapaa and Hanalei, also targeted by the Republicans, won re-election by a comfortable
margin of 1,376 votes.

Oahu

On Oahu, there were three big wins. In the Enchanted Lake area (House District 49), Pono Chong defeated David Pendleton by 123 votes. In Kahala and Aina Haina (House District 18), Lyla Berg defeated incumbent Bertha Leong by 784 votes. And in Mililani and Waipio (House District 37), Ryan Yamane defeated Guy Ontai by 444 votes. Ontai had the worse voting record of any House Republican, voting against all six labor supported bills. The upset wins by Pono Chong and Lyla Berg were particularly important because they were in areas of Oahu that were thought to be Republican strongholds.

The unions focused on helping five other incumbent legislators on Oahu, as these races were expected to be close. All five labor supported candidates won re-election but two races were very close. In the Aiea and Halawa area (House District 33) Blake Oshiro won by 53 votes and in the Nanakuli area (House District 44) Michael Kahikina won by 56 votes.

In Kahuku and the North Shore area (House District 46) Michael Magaoay won by a more comfortable 309 votes. Kaneohe’s
(House District 48) Ken Ito defeated his Republican challenger by 1,236 votes and in Lanikai and Waimanalo (House District 51) Tommy Waters won by a decisive 2,453 votes.

Maui

On Maui, there were two big wins—in West Maui (House Dist. 10) - newcomer Kam Tanaka defeated incumbent Brian Blundell by 56 votes and in Upcountry Maui (House District 12) - Kyle Yamashita defeated Kika Bukoski by 638 votes. Blundell and Bukoski have also voted against five of the six bills supported by the ILWU and other unions.

The ILWU worked hard to support Senator Roz Baker who represents South Maui (Senate Dist. 5). This was expected to be a
close race because of the extraordinary efforts by Governor Lingle and the Republican Party to target and defeat Baker. The race wasn’t even close—Baker won decisively over challenger Don Couch with a margin of over 2,400 votes.

Hawaii

The big win on the Big Island was in Kailua and Keauhou (House District 6), where new-comer Joshua Green beat the incumbent Republican Mark Jernigan by 691 votes. Jernigan had one of the worst scores when in came to support for working
people. He voted against five of the six bills supported by the ILWU and other unions.

In Kohala, Kona, and Ka‘u (Senate District 3) - Steven Fox came within 585 votes of unseating Republican incumbent Paul
Whalen.

In Hilo, Keaau, and Mountain View (House District 3) - new-comer Clifton Tsuji won 61% of the vote to fill the seat previously held by Eric Hamakawa.

In North Kona and South Kohala (House District 7) - Cindy Evans was re-elected by a comfortable margin of 1,153 votes.

Win six—lose one
The Republicans lost a total of six seats and managed to defeat only one labor endorsed incumbent, Romeo Mindo, in the Ewa
Beach and West Loch area (House District 43). Mindo was a first-term legislator who was formerly with the hotel workers union Local 5.

In the House of Representatives, the Democratic majority increased by five seats from 36 to 41. The Republicans lost five
seats and are now down to 10 members in the House of Representatives. The balance of power in the Senate remains unchanged with 20 Democrats to 5 Republicans.

Pensioners statewide turned out to help with political action, including Oahu Division pensioners, some of whom are pictured above at the 2004 opening day ceremony at the State Legislature. (l-r) Haruye Ichiki, Esther Scharsch, Elsie Nagahiro, Mary Barrionuebo, and Vivian McCoy.