Incumbent Keoni Souza could lose his at-large trustee seat on the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, according to the first election printout.
The three candidates who receive the most votes will serve on the Office of Hawaiian Affairs board.
If the results hold, challenger Ikaika Anderson could be a new face on the nine-member Board of Trustees, alongside incumbents John Waiheʻe IV and Brickwood Galuteria. The other opponents are Adrian Kealiʻi Akina and Kanekoa Crabbe.
The first printout of results released by the state Office of Elections showed Anderson had about 10.9% of the votes, Waiheʻe had about 10.8%, Galuteria had about 10.7%, followed by Souza with about 10.3%, Akina with about 9.4% and Crabbe with about 7.9%. About 40% of ballots had blank votes for the at-large trustee seat.
Galuteria is a former state senator and radio personality who was elected as an at-large trustee in 2022. He’s currently the chair of the Board of Trustees Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment committee.
Waiheʻe, the son of the former Gov. John Waiheʻe III, is currently the longest serving trustee, having been on the board since 2000.
The race between incumbent Souza, a musician and realtor, and former Honolulu City Council member Ikaika Anderson in the August primary election is still very close. But the general election results showed Anderson could secure a spot on the board.
OHA, created in 1978, is a semi-autonomous state agency with a mission to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians. Some call it the fourth branch of government.
The agency is governed by a nine-member Board of Trustees, which is responsible for setting OHA’s policies and managing assets worth more than $900 million.
Although trustees represent geographic areas, all registered voters can vote for OHA trustees. That’s because of a 2000 U.S. Supreme Court ruling determined it was illegal to limit OHA elections by ethnicity.
