And they’re off to the races

Maui News Editorial
Thursday, July 25, 2002

With more seats up for grabs than in any election since statehood, many prognosticators anticipated a traffic jam of candidates racing to get on the 2002 ballot. It turned out to look more like a charity walk than a rush hour.

The lineups are now set for the Sept. 21 primary with the passing of Tuesday’s filing deadline, and few familiar names are to be found among the nonincumbents at either the state and county levels. Eight of the 25 members of the state Senate are unopposed, including Maui’s J. Kalani English in the 6th Senatorial District. A Democrat will continue to hold the 4th District seat now occupied by Jan Yagi Buen as her only challengers are in the primary. In Maui County’s six state House races, four will have no contested primaries and none of the incumbents face primary challengers

In the nonpartisan County Council contests, Robert Carroll gets a free pass to another term in his East Maui seat. Four incumbents — Jo Anne Johnson, Mike Molina, Charmaine Tavares and Riki Hokama — face only one challenger, while another — Wayne Nishiki — faces but two.

How to explain the dearth of candidates in terms of numbers? Gov. Ben Cayetano says people are simply becoming more reluctant to put their lives under the public microscope.

“The scrutiny of one’s private life is much more intense today than it ever was,” he said. “So many people in the end don’t want to run. They don’t want to give up their privacy.”

That may be, but asking for the public’s trust comes with a cost. That’s all the more reason to congratulate every candidate who has stepped up to the challenge of that public scrutiny. Their names are now out there; their positions will become known as the campaign progresses. The responsibility now begins to build on you — the voters — to find out more about how the candidates stand on the issues, and to support with time and money those whose views echo your own.

The race may not be so crowded, but it definitely is on. And just because there aren’t a lot of contestants doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of good ones.

Return to Sen. English Home Page - KalaniEnglish.com

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