TOM FINNEGAN / TFINNEGAN@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kauai Mayor Bryan Baptiste hugged supporter Rosie Bukoski during Baptiste's election-night celebration Saturday at the Lihue Community Center.
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Baptiste is declared victor on Kauai
The mayor wins re-election after the county clerk's ruling
Kauai Mayor Bryan Baptiste called his re-election "a lesson in civics."
But his would-be general election opponent, Jesse Fukushima, wasn't ready to say the lesson is over just yet.
Baptiste was re-elected to a second term as Kauai mayor yesterday after County Clerk Peter Nakamura decided that blank votes and spoiled ballots would not be counted in Saturday's primary election.
Baptiste avoided a run-off with Fukushima in the general election by one vote -- with 8,173 of 16,342 votes cast for the five candidates. He needed half the votes plus one to win outright. He received 50 percent plus two.
Nakamura decided that the four spoiled votes and the 1,030 blank votes did not count. He was backed up by the County Attorney's Office, which used state law to support the decision, officials said.
"It was pretty much following the law," Nakamura said of his decision.
Baptiste said the vote showed how important each person can be to the democratic process.
"This has been a tough thing to go through," Baptiste said yesterday. "But if it brings any realization that (voting) matters, then it's worth it."
Fukushima, who received 29 percent of the votes cast, said he would make a decision today on the best way to proceed. Yesterday morning, he said he had not hired an attorney to challenge the ruling, but that it was "one avenue we definitely will be looking at."
After meeting with his supporters last night, he said he would make a decision this morning.
He has until Friday to challenge the election in state Supreme Court.
Baptiste said that, after "a roller-coaster ride for the last few nights," he can now concentrate on four more years as the top administrator of the Garden Isle.
He added that, while the vote was no mandate on the job he's done, he is appreciative of the tremendous support and encouragement he has received. Besides, he said, it's very rare in Hawaii for an official to be elected in the nonpartisan primary.
"If you legally win by two votes or 2,000 votes, it's still a legal win," Baptiste said.