The race for the Kauaʻi and Niʻihau seat in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is between incumbent Dan Ahuna and relative political newcomer Laura Lindsey.
Ahuna, who has held the seat since 2012, is an educator and coach for youth sports. He was a former University of Hawaiʻi football player and comes from a prominent family of athletes — including his sister Reydan "Tita" Ahuna, who was captain of the 1987 NCAA volleyball championship team for UH.
He supports improving education and aligning OHA’s strategic plan to advance Native Hawaiian self-determination. He gives credit to his mother for teaching him values and supporting his community.
“I love my community. I serve my community every single day,” he said. “That value has stuck with me from my mom.”
He believes OHA's role in developing its land in Kakaʻako is a pressing issue. Since 2012, OHA has had 30 acres of land in urban Honolulu transferred from the state, valued at $200 million.
The land consists of 30 acres located on the peninsula known as Kakaʻako Makai.
“To me, the systemic racism that prevents us from making decisions for ourselves is one,” he said. "For example, we have land in Kakaʻako. We can't even make decisions on our own land. Legislation won't even allow us to give us the permits to do the things that we want to do."
Lindsey works for Kauaʻi County's Department of Finance. She didn’t respond to HPR's requests for comment.
Her website lacks specifics of what she wants to accomplish in office but states she, “will triage our community's needs, identify the critical issues, and apply the necessary solutions."
Neither candidate has campaigned much — which could give Ahuna, the incumbent, an advantage.
Jacob Aki, president of the O‘ahu Council of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, said the name Lindsey might garner votes because some people tend to pick candidates with popular Hawaiian last names, or those that start with the letter "A," like Ahuna.
“When we look historically over the past decade, of the trustees who have served, we have current Chair Carmen Hulu Lindsey and former Chair and Big Island Trustee Bob Lindsey,” he said. “Having the last name Lindsey, it’s a well-known Native Hawaiian last name that might just garner her votes for those reasons."
"But I think of who people actually know, who they have seen, I think the upper hand there goes to Dan (Ahuna)," Aki said.
Lindsey raised $2,400 between January and September. She spent more than $1,600 on banners, and FedEx signs to neighbor islands.
Ahuna didn’t intend to receive contributions or spend more than $1,000, according to the Campaign Spending Commission.
Aki said it’s critical for candidates to campaign across the state, including Oʻahu — the most populous island.
“She had extra time because of the automatic general for this race, and I just haven't seen that,” he said. "I've been around the state a lot over the past several weeks, and I haven't seen any of their signs.”
“But as the new candidate and as somebody coming in to try to unseat a current trustee, I think she needed to do a lot more, and I just haven't seen that,” he continued.
OHA is a semi-autonomous agency created to better the conditions of Native Hawaiians. The agency is tasked with managing a trust of about $600 million.
The general election is on Nov. 5 and as a statewide race, all Hawaiʻi residents can vote for OHA.
