2014 Kailua mayoral election (Pacifica)
On November 11th, 2014, the city of Kailua held an election to determine who would be the city's mayor, the one who has "presidential authority" over the city.
Incumbent Democratic mayor Vicky McNamara was running for president and therefore was unable to run in the city's mayoral race. District 8 councilman Troy Cayetano went on to win the open primary and later won against marketing executive Rich Rowell in the general election.
| Template:Flagdeco | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
Open primary
Vicky McNamara, the incumbent mayor, was widely supported throughout the city, with once an approval rating of 73%. Though, the rating quickly dropped after she vetoed a educational reinvestment bill. McNamara faced severe criticisms from residents and education groups. Annette Chen, the President of the Kailua Teachers Union, was swift to announce her candidacy for mayor. Other candidates piled in, including city councilwoman Jill Kerns and former city Director of Parks and Recreation, Charles Gi. McNamara announced her candidacy for re-election, and brought on Rich Rowell, a former marketing executive to advise the campaign. Shortly after McNamara announced her candidacy, Troy Cayetano, a popular city councilman said he was running for mayor.
After dozens of initial polls showed either Cayetano or Gi ahead, McNamara dropped out of the race. She later announced that she would be running for president. Rich Rowell, who advised McNamara, announced he would be running, to "continue the McNamara era in Kailua." More and more candidates insisted that they would be in the running, including LUI Representative, Deb Hashimoto. Though, after realizing that she wasn't getting enough traction, Hashimoto dropped out only six days after starting her campaign (in public). After many debates, Jill Kerns, a city councilor was garnering popularity, and taking some of Cayetano's and Gi's voters.
At the April filing deadline, 17 candidates were hoping to make the ballot, though only 13 of them did. Among them were Cayetano, Chen, Gi, Rowell, but not Kerns. The Kailua Board of Elections stated that, "Mrs. Kerns did not correctly follow the signature guidelines for her candidacy, therefore 33 of her signatures were invalid making her 21 signatures short." The Kerns campaign appealed the decision by the board, though, the board voted against the appeal. Kerns called the system "unjust" and would fight for "election reform" on the council. Kerns later endorsed Charles Gi, who seemed to be ahead in the polls.
In June, when the primary came, Cayetano got first place. Since it was an open primary, the next top votegetter would face Cayetano in the general election. It was initally Charles Gi, though after two recounts ordered by the Rowell campaign, Rowell was named to the general election.
Nominees
- Troy Cayetano, city councilman from the 8th district (Democrat)
- Rich Rowell, marketing executive and campaign strategist (Democrat)
Eliminated in the primary
- Charles Gi, former Director of the Kailua Parks and Recreations (Democrat)
- Annette Chen, President of the Kailua Teacher's Union (Democrat)
- Rick Bass, former state representative (Republican)
- Reta Smith, attorney and candidate for Secretary of State in 2012 (Democrat)
- Kalilu Camara, private equity consultant (Democrat)
- Luis Reynoso, author and activist (Democrat)
- Drew Rines, high school football coach (Republican)
- Bradley Cantor, former Chair of the Kailua Republican Party
- Cheryl Pickett, businesswoman (Democrat)
- Rae Randall, journalist (Republican)
- Andy Rez, political commentator (Libertarian)
| Party | Name | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Troy Cayetano | 27.3% | |
| Democratic | Rich Rowell | 18.5% | |
| Democratic | Charles Gi | 18.4% | |
| Democratic | Annette Chen | 15.7% | |
| Republican | Rick Bass | 6.4% | |
| Democratic | Reta Smith | 6.3% | |
| Democratic | Kalilu Camara | 6.1% | |
| Democratic | Luis Reynoso | 5.2% | |
| Republican | Drew Rines | 5.1% | |
| Republican | Bradley Cantor | 4.9% | |
| Other | Other | 3.3% | |
| Democratic | Cheryl Pickett | 1.1 | |
| Republican | Rae Randall | 0.2 | |
| Libertarian | Andy Rez | 0.1 |