During the 2018 elections, Pono Hawaii Initiative (PHI) a 501C4 nonprofit organization of which I am the Executive Director, endorsed and supported 32 candidates for public office at the state legislative and county council level on all islands.

At the end of the day, 15 of the 32 candidates endorsed by PHI were successfully elected to public office.  To be clear, each is responsible for their own success at the polls and each ran first class campaigns, working very, very hard over many months.

• 5 of these successful candidates are graduates of the non partisan Kuleana Academy leadership and campaign training program, sponsored by the Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action (HAPA).
• 10 are women
• 5 on the Maui County Council now constitute a majority

The successful PHI endorsed candidates now serving in public office:

State Senate – Jarrett Keohokalole District 24, Sharon Moriwaki District 12

State House of Representatives – Richard Creagan District 5, *Amy Perruso District 46, *Tina Wildberger District 11

Kauai County Council – Mason Chock, Felicia Cowden

Maui County Council – *Tamara Paltin, *Keani Rawlins-Fernandez,  *Shane Sinenci, Tasha

Kama and Kelly King 

Hawaii County Council – Maile David, Rebecca Villegas, Karen Eoff

*Indicates a HAPA Kuleana Academy graduate

Information on how to apply for the upcoming 2019 Kuleana Academy is available here: http://www.hapahi.org/kuleana-academy/

Information on all Pono Hawaii Initiative endorsed candidates is here: https://ponohawaiiinitiative.org/endorsements/