2026 Maui Candidates — Who’s Running & Who Funds Them

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This is community civic education. Kilo Aupuni is an educational system that runs these audits for the people of Maui — to teach anyone how to follow the money, read the public record, and hold power to account. Every figure is sourced; every flag is a question you are entitled to ask. Learn the method here, then use it yourself.
12 Stones Global · Kilo Aupuni · 2026 election

2026 Maui Candidates — Who’s Running, and Who Funds Them

Everyone who filed nomination papers by the June 2, 2026 deadline for Mayor and all nine County Council seats — set beside the campaign money on file for each. Primary Aug 8; general Nov 3. The two-candidate Council races skip the primary and go straight to November.

Money is the reported total from the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission record; “RE” is the real-estate / development slice. Names are matched carefully — where a filer shares a surname with a different person, their money is NOT counted here.

IMPORTANT — how to read “no money on file”: Hawaii candidates must register a committee within 10 days of filing papers or once they cross $100 raised or spent, then file periodic reports through the Aug 8 primary and Nov 3 general. This record holds the reports filed so far. A brand-new challenger who filed in June 2026 may have no report posted yet — so “no money on file” most often means their report isn’t due/posted, NOT that they raised nothing. Money is lawful; the point is simply to show it beside each name, as a question.
Contested primary

Mayor

Richard Bissen INCUMBENT$665,271 raisedRE $102,435 · 15%
Yuki Lei Sugimura$354,610 raisedRE $36,840 · 10%
Laurent Zahnd$340 raised
Dunbar · Herrmann · La Costa · Liggett · Moses · Petterson · Welsh— no money on file
Contested primary · open seat (Lee retiring)

Council — Wailuku-Waiheʻe-Waikapū

James (Nahele) Forrest$6,020 raisedRE $200
Konohia · Ashley Awakea Lindsey · Alan Lloyd · Marvin Moniz— no money on file
Contested primary

Council — Kahului

Kauanoe Batangan INCUMBENT$19,940 raisedRE $0
Carol Lee Kamekona$27,619 raisedRE $0
Jason Ababan— no money on file
Contested primary · open seat (Sugimura → Mayor)

Council — Upcountry

Bobby Pahia (kalo farmer)$3,000 raisedRE $0
Derrick Cabiles · John Guard IV · Jon Masaru Yokouchi— no money on file
Two-way · straight to general

Council — South Maui

Tom Cook INCUMBENT— no money on file under this name
Kelly King$171,415 raisedRE $11,700 · 7%
Two-way · straight to general

Council — Makawao-Haʻikū-Pāʻia

Nohelani Uʻu-Hodgins INCUMBENT$233,353 raisedRE $64,650 · 28%
Stevie Kathryn Chung— no money on file
Two-way · straight to general

Council — West Maui

Tamara Paltin INCUMBENT$79,007 raisedRE $7,350 · 9%
Mark Tillman— no money on file
Two-way · straight to general

Council — East Maui

Shane Sinenci INCUMBENT$47,902 raisedRE $0
Claire Kamalu Carroll$54,596 raisedRE $2,300
Unopposed · winner by default

Council — Molokaʻi

Keani Rawlins-Fernandez INCUMBENT$111,197 raisedRE $1,600 · 1%
Unopposed · winner by default

Council — Lānaʻi

Gabe Johnson INCUMBENT— no money on file under this name

The pattern, plainly: the money sits with the incumbents and one established challenger (Kelly King, $171K). Most challengers — and every grassroots name — start near zero; Bobby Pahia is running for an open seat on $3,000. The seats where real-estate money is heaviest (Uʻu-Hodgins 28%, the Mayor’s race) are the ones to watch as the land-and-housing votes come up.

filed roster: Maui County Clerk / Office of Elections (deadline 2026-06-02), via Maui Now 2026-06-03, UNCERTIFIED · money: Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission · framed as a question, not an accusation · Kilo Aupuni · aloha · pono