Fewer candidates filed for election in Hawaii this year than in the past 10 years

HONOLULU (AP) — The most significant race in Hawaii’s Aug. 10 primary may well influence who is the next speaker of the Hawaii House of Representatives — and thus directly impact the policies and laws of the entire state.

That speaker, Rep. Scott Saiki, is challenged in the Democratic primary by Kim Coco Iwamoto, who came within 161 votes of defeating him in 2022. Saiki’s margin of victory over Iwamoto was also slim in 2020 — just 167 votes out of more than 6,000 cast.

Like the Saiki-Iwamoto rematch, a few of the most competitive primary races can be found in the Legislature. All 51 House seats and 13 of the Senate seats are up for grabs this year.

But the 2024 primary is also distinguished by the fact that dozens of Democratic and Republican House and Senate incumbents have no primary fight and will effectively advance to the Nov. 5 general election.

Also, three of the five sitting Honolulu City Council members up for reelection in 2024 did not attract any competition. That’s remarkable, given all the public outrage over unusually large pay raises last year.

This year also represents the lowest number of candidate filings in a decade, and a dramatic drop from just four years ago.

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