6/24/24 #kihei

As the 2024 primary election is Saturday, Aug 10, we evaluated the contests most relevant to our district that will be on this ballot. Once the filing  opportunity passed earlier this month, we noted only two of the Council’s nine slots will appear in the orimary election, South Maui and Upcountry.  Each of those contests has three candidates, so we immediately reached out with invitations to all six. We were successful with five of them, three for South Maui and two for Upcountry. As most of our astute members are aware, the top two vote getters will advance on to the general election. Most voters now mail in their ballot much before the August 10 date, so having this event weeks before “election day” can help voters make choices based on what  they hear and see from each candidate and then mail in their ballot.

Here are the three South Maui Candidates set to participate on July 16 at 630 PM:

Incumbent South Maui Council Member Tom Cook

Kīhei resident Johnny Prones, a candidate for the South Maui residency seat on the Maui County Council

Kelly King, Challenger for South Maui Council (image: mauicounty.us)

This South Maui contest is the only one in the County that has a former and a current office holder competing. 

The other contest is the Upcountry residency race. Unfortunately, incumbent Yuki Lei Sugimura will not be available, as she will be in transit from Florida from  the National Association of Counties (NAC0) annual meeting,  but we welcome the two challenging candidates Edward Codelia and  Jocylyn Cruz.

Incumbent Upcountry Council Member Yuki Lei Sugimura will not attend this time (image: Facebook)

Edward Codelia, first-time candidate for the County Council Upcountry spot has agreed to participate

County Council Upcountry residency first-time candidate Jocelyn Cruz has also committed to participate

 For decades, KCA has offered these opportunities for the community to meet candidates and hear them introduce themselves and answer our questions, using a wide variety of formats. But this will be the first one held at the Pro Arts Playhouse. As always, membership is NOT required to attend, but encouraged. Also we ask those attending to bring a nutritious non-perishable food donation for our perpetual Maui Food Bank Drive.