StarBulletin.com

Anderson wins special election for Windward Council seat


By

POSTED: Friday, April 24, 2009

Ikaika Anderson emerged the winner of a two-month campaign to serve out the City Council term of the late Barbara Marshall.

Anderson, an aide to Marshall the past six years, won the seat with 49 percent of the roughly 25,500 votes in the special mail-in election that concluded tonight.

Former City Councilman Steve Holmes was next with 14 percent, or 3,601 votes, followed by Tracy Nakano Bean with 10 percent, or 2,608 votes.

Eleven candidates sought to fill the District 3 vacancy left after Marshall died Feb. 22 of colon cancer. She easily had won re-election in November.

After completing Marshall’s term in 2012, Anderson would be eligible to serve two more consecutive terms.

The city spent about $250,000 on the special mail-in election, sending out 56,471 ballots to registered voters in the district, which includes portions of Kaneohe, Kailua and Waimanalo. Less than 100 late-arriving ballots remained to be counted at the 6 p.m. voting deadline.

Anderson, Holmes and John Henry Felix, another former Council member, arguably had the most name recognition among the 11 candidates, partly because of past office and previous campaigns, but also because they raised and spent far more money than their opponents.

Felix led all candidates in spending at more than $128,000, according to campaign spending reports filed April 13. Anderson was next at $99,000, followed by Holmes at $43,000. The rest of the field combined had spent about $45,000.

Others who sought the seat were Paul Akau, Wilson Kekoa Ho, Leona Mapuana Kalima, Keoki Leong, Sol Nalua'i, Tom Pico Jr. and Pohai Ryan.