Democratic challenger Kim Coco Iwamoto wins Hawaii primary, ousting longtime House speaker Saiki

Hawaii’s longtime House speaker lost his Democratic Party primary election to a former state Board of Education member who campaigned on tackling corruption in government.

Speaker Scott Saiki was ousted by Kim Coco Iwamoto.

Iwamoto’s website says she is fighting to expose government corruption and waste — and to provide sufficient shelter and enough social workers to address homelessness.

Saiki has been speaker since 2017 and a state representative for three decades. He served as president of the National Conference of State Legislators from 2021 to 2022.

He narrowly beat back two previous attempts by Iwamoto to unseat him in 2022 and 2020.

Iwamoto is an attorney who represented Oahu on the state Board of Education from 2006 to 2011. She was the highest-ranking openly transgender person elected in the country when she first won her education board seat 18 years ago.

Their House district covers downtown Honolulu and Kakaako, where a construction boom has transformed warehouses into high-rise condos.

Democrats currently control 45 of the 51 seats in the state House. Republicans hold six.