HILO » Big Island mayoral candidate Angel Pilago wants to cut $40 million from the county's roughly $400 million annual budget.

Opponent Billy Kenoi challenges Pilago to say where the cuts would be made. Kenoi says $18.1 million in unspent savings from last year will be roughly enough to cover a shortfall in revenues.

Start mentioning millions of dollars, and the nonpartisan race between these two can sound dramatic.

A former aide to Mayor Harry Kim, Kenoi, 39, is the one-time kolohe kid from rural Kalapana turned lawyer, a sparkling speaker who laces his talks with localisms, now presenting himself as a mature public servant.

County Councilman Pilago, 63, is already the elder statesman, known for his soft voice and his tough ability to negotiate restraints on growth in booming West Hawaii. At the same time, his Web site shows him bare-chested in his “;first campaign office,”; a tarpaulin shelter on a beach, and another photo shows him surfing on a longboard.

The two are campaigning almost nonstop. Interview Kenoi in the morning and he's slightly groggy from a minimum of sleep the night before. Call Pilago's wife, Nita, on her cell and she says he's taking a nap in the car while she drives him to his next event.

Aside from the hubbub, there are some real differences between them.

Pilago opposes the $1 billion Thirty Meter Telescope proposed for Mauna Kea. Kenoi says he's “;open”; to the idea, but a “;long conversation”; among all parties is needed before a decision.

Pilago authored a ban on genetically modified taro and coffee on the island. Kenoi would ban only modified taro because of the plant's “;cultural significance”; but adds he wants no field testing of other modified crops.

Pilago supports restricting enforcement of marijuana laws. Kenoi says that's “;bad policy.”;

Pilago voted against a $125 million waste-to-energy plant to solve East Hawaii's trash problem. Kenoi says that leaves only two short-term solutions, either trucking trash to West Hawaii (already partly under way) or sending it to the mainland on a barge. In the long term, “;everything's on the table,”; he said.

Kenoi's baby is expansion of the county bus system to every corner of the island. It's the least flashy topic in the campaign, but an expanded bus system would take people to job and health care centers, bring kids to afterschool recreation, and get some cars off the roads, he said.

Pilago's support of more buses has been general, saying that's part of community development plans that he supports.

One of these men will be the successor to the widely respected outgoing mayor, Harry Kim.

Kim recently ended a long silence with an informal statement that he supports Kenoi.

Saying he has a “;tremendous admiration”; for Pilago, and noting he has known Kenoi since Kenoi was 9, Kim cited Pilago's opposition to the waste-to-energy project and support for limiting marijuana enforcement as reasons for preferring Kenoi.