By B.J. Reyes

12:08 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 21

Just two months ago it looked as if Mayor Mufi Hannemann and his sizable campaign fund would cruise unopposed into a second term.But in a sprint to the primary, City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi (helped in part by University of Hawaii professor Panos Prevedouros) managed to steal just enough votes from the mayor to force a runoff on Nov. 4.

Hannemann needed 50 percent plus one vote to ease on into a second stay at Honolulu Hale, but wound up just shy with 49.4 percent. Kobayashi captured 30.16 percent, and Prevedouros, who conceded his run early in the night, finished with 17.72 percent.

“She did what she had to do,” said Univeristy of Hawaii political scientist Neal Milner. “She didn’t have much money, but she managed to scrape into the finals.”

At least one Hannemann supporter saw the low voter turnout as a big factor.

“For whatever reason, people stayed home,” said Rep. Kirk Caldwell. “We had the lowest voter turnout in the history of our state for a primary, at 34 percent. (Official total on Sunday: 36.9 percent statewide.)

“I think that if more people turned out — the people in the more rural communities who would use the rail — I think it would’ve made the difference and we wouldn’t have this runoff.”

He cited the record number of uncontested races as one possible reason people stayed home, and also noted that two issues that also might have brought voters out — a choice on rail and the possibility of a Constitutional Convention — are scheduled to be decided in the November general election.

When asked if the plan all along was to just win enough to take the race to November, Kobayashi spokesman Donovan Dela Cruz, said no.

“We’re in it to win,” he told Star-Bulletin reporter Nelson Daranciang. “But we’re up against the establishment. Evem when you look at his ads, he has Bishop Street and Punchbowl Street behind him. We had to work hard.”

So what can voters look for as Nov. 4 approaches?

“She has to make a much clearer distinction between herself and the mayor, and I think that has to be on mass transit,” said Milner. “I think it’s going to be an issue more on mass transit. I don’t think the character issue works very well.”

Caldwell said he still believes the race will go to Hannemann.

“I think the end story is Mufi’s goiing to be elected as mayor, it just means that the date goes on for another six weeks,” he said. “I think it also means that the issue of rail will be more hotly debated.”

By B.J. Reyes

One politician who was hoping to have a stake in tonight’s primary election outcome was Rep. Kirk Caldwell, the House majority leader.

Caldwell, who has represented the Manoa House district since 2004, was a casualty of bad timing when Ann Kobayashi gave up her City Council seat to run for Honolulu mayor.

“Well, I have to say I wish I was running for something,” Caldwell said in an interview this afternoon. “I not only loved serving, but I loved campaigning.”

Instead, Caldwell was watching the action from the outside looking in.

“I did vote for Mufi,” he added. “I believe that he is the person to be mayor again.

“I believe 100 percent in rail. It’s something we need to do. We’re talking about something that will benefit people 100 years from now. It will change how our whole county develops and it’s something we should be doing.”

As far as his own political future, Caldwell said he won’t rule out anything, depending on which offices open. However, he has reservations about running for the Legislature again in 2010. Isaac Choy, the Democrat seeking to succeed him, was recruited to run by Caldwell. In the Senate, “(incumbent Democrat) Brian Taniguchi and I have become very close friends and I have the greatest respect for his abilities.”

“Unless I move from Manoa, which I will never do after this because the outpouring from people in the valley was so sincere … it’s lieutenant governor, governor, First Congressional (district) and (City) Council if somehow (Duke) Bainum decided to run for something else.”

By B.J. Reyes

10:55 p.m.

Though still awaiting the third printout, Univerity of Hawaii professor Panos Prevedouros conceded his bid for Honolulu mayor.

Prevedouros thanked supporters about 10:30 p.m., acknowledging he would finish in third place.

After the second printout, he trailed Mayor Mufi Hannemann and City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi by wide margins.

“We raised quite a few important issues in this campaign,” he said, listing the need to fix the city’s infrastructure and help the homeless. And Prevedouros once again criticized Hannemann’s push for a $4 billion transit system, saying it would create “a tax black hole.”

“Change will come, but it will come a little bit later,” he said in closing remarks.

Things were more upbeat at Hannemann headquarters, where 7-year-old Tia Fernandez entertained the crowd with a selection of songs by Alicia Keys.

(Photo by Laurie Au)

By B.J. Reyes

10:40 p.m.

A look at some of the other races being followed by the In Politics blog. These results are after the second printout. The third printout is expected by 11 p.m.

For a complete list of results, go to Starbulletin.com.

Big Island mayor (top 3)
Billy Kenoi, 47.77 percent
K. Angel Pilago, 21.29 percent
Lorraine Inouye, 21.21 percent

Kauai mayor (top 3)
Bernard Carvalho, 40.70 percent
JoAnn Yukimura, 30.49 percent
Mel Rapozo, 24.74 percent

State Senate District 3 (Milolii-Waimea)
Josh Green, 79.21 percent
Virginia Isbell, 20.78 percent

State Senate District 18 (Waipahu-Pearl City)
Clarence Nishihara, 59.94 percent
Alex Sonson, 40.05 percent

State House District 35 (Pearl City-Waipahu)
Henry Aquino, 54.16 percent
I. Perreira Rahman, 28.78 percent
Constante Domnigo, 6.30 percent
Ilalo Parayno, 5.51 percent
Dante Verdadero, 5.22 percent

State House District 44 (Kalaeloa-Nanakuli)
Karen Awana, 56.91 percent
Hanalei Aipoalani, 43.08 percent

State House District 51 (Lanikai-Waimanalo)
Chris Lee, 53.81 percent
Ikaika Anderson, 43.11 percent
Shawn Christensen, 3.07 percent

By B.J. Reyes

… which should be coming any minute now.

Some snippets from our reporters who are out and about:

From Laurie Au at Mufi Hannemann headquarters at Dole Cannery:

Hannemann made his first appearance of the night around 8:30 p.m., making a quick three-minute speech before heading into the back room of his headquarters to eat dinner with his wife, Gail.

“To quote City Councilman Rod Tam, if I may, there are many more quarters to be played tonight so it’s still early but obviously we are very grateful for what we received so far,” Hannemann said.

Hannemann said he would return at 9:30 p.m. after the second printout.

>>> <<<

From education beat reporter Alexandre da Silva, covering the Board of Education races tonight:

Former state lawmaker Terrance Tom has jumped ahead in the race for an Oahu at-large Board of Education seat being vacated by incumbent Cec Heftel.

Heftel, a former congressman, has said he chose not to seek another four-year term on the school board because he wasn’t being able to push for change in the public education system.

Tom was being closely followed by Randall Yee, a past school board chairman who served from 2002-2006.

By B.J. Reyes

9:10 p.m.

(Note: Thanks for bearing with us. This brave new blogging world is not without its logistical challenges, particularly when the blogger has to get back and forth across town to the different mayoral headquarters).

So if there’s one thing that the underdogs have at the start of any election is optimism. And there’s never a shortage of it on election night, especially after the early returns.

Incumbent Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann took a big lead after the first printout tonight, but the campaigns of Ann Kobayashi and Panos Prevedouros are soldiering on tonight undaunted.

In the video below, Prevedouros and City Councilman Donovan Dele Cruz, a spokesman for Kobayashi’s campaign, offer their thoughts at the start of what is expected to be a night of watching and waiting.

Meanwhile, Star-Bulletin City Hall reporter Laurie Au is at Hannemann headquarters at Dole Cannery and offers this report:
Supporters at Hannemann’s headquarters seem energized and confident that the mayor will pull off an outright win tonight. Many of them are city workers and say they’d like the race to be over tonight so they can get back to work — and stop depleting their vacation time to campaign for the mayor during business hours.

“We’re very encouraged. We’re expecting a win tonight,” said Jeff Coelho, a Hannemann campaign strategist and a former city Cabinet member.

They have lots of good food here, too — roast pork, sushi, andagi and watermelon. (Of course, this reporter isn’t eating any of it.)

By B.J. Reyes

5:15 p.m.

With just under an hour left before the polls close, things seem to be going rather routinely for this primary election (which, unfortunately, may be indicative of typically low voter turnout, but we’ll see).

Other than the early issues with some polling places opening late, things have progressed smoothly so far, said Rex Quidilla, spokesman for the state Office of Elections.

“We’ve seen that the voting has progressed throughout the day and we have not encountered any additional issues thus far,” he said.

While trying to figure out a game plan for where to be tonight, I’ve managed to only hit one polling precinct so far, Noelani Elementary School in Manoa, where things appeared to be in order (albeit, there was probably only a half dozen people there at 4:30 p.m.)

Richard Borreca is keeping an eye on the elections center out of the state Capitol while Laurie Au is hitting the sites of the mayoral candidates tonight, so expect to hear more from them later on. We’ll have reporters getting voter reaction and talking to candidates as the night goes on, and we hope to bring you some of the sights and sounds of primary night as well.

By B.J. Reyes

Have you made up your mind yet?

Whether you’re still deciding who to vote for or just waiting for your college football game to finish to get to your polling place, you have until 6 p.m. to cast your ballot in today’s primary.

So far it looks like there have been some staffing shortages but no widespread problems.

Once the polls close,  keep an eye on Starbulletin.com for the latest news and updates on all the races as the Best Political Team in Hawaii fans out throughout the islands to bring you all the results and reaction.

By B.J. Reyes

10:10 p.m.

Having some technical issues, but looks like we’re back up.

If you haven’t seen it by now, the second printout is out and posted at Starbulletin.com. The most noteworthy item is in the race for Honolulu mayor, where incumbent Mufi Hannemann is jsut below the 50 percent mark at 49.76 percent.

Hannemann needs 50 percent of the vote “plus one vote” to win re-election outright and avoid having to go to the general election.

Laurie Au reports that the mood at Hannemann headquarters was less boisterous than after the first printout, but most supporters remain o

Ann Kobayashi has 30.5 percent and Panos Prevedouros has 17.03 percent.

Over on the Big Island,

By B.J. Reyes

The state Office of Elections this month mailed out an 8-page full color brochure entitled, “Everything you need to know to cast your vote … A Guide to Voting in Hawaii.” View the full pamphlet here.

Hawaii Republican Party officials took issue with an image that appears on page 5:

The full statement, included in a news release sent last night, from state GOP Chairman Willes K. Lee reads:

“The Office of Elections once again chose to insert political partisanship into their state-run operations. Instead of a sample ballot photo in their ‘Guide to Voting in Hawai’i’ pamphlet that shows all political parties, they chose one that contains a box of instructions that visibly blocks the Republican Party slate. Either the state Office of Elections is biased or incompetent … or both. The Office of Elections may claim that this was an unintentional placement by their design vendor, but given their recent gamesmanship they do not have much credibility.”

The mailed brochure is among the media materials being used by the Elections Office this year for voter education. Other materials, including posters at voting precincts, do not obscure the GOP slate.

A spokesman for the Elections Office said he had not seen the GOP news release and could not comment, adding that officials are concentrating more on preparing for tomorrow’s primary election to ensure that voting goes smoothly.