HONOLULU (KHON2) — Hawaii's Democratic lawmakers will be searching for new leadership in the House, a major implication following the primary election.
It was a close call in several contested races between Democrats on Saturday. Those results were top of mind for lawmakers who gathered for the annual Democratic Unity Breakfast Sunday morning.
"Came down to the slimmest of margins. Especially here in Hawaii, close state House races, close state Senate races are always going to come down to a few hundred votes," stated Democratic Party Chair, Derek Turbin.
Speaker Scott Saiki lost his seat to fellow Democrat Kim Coco Iwamoto who pulled off the upset by 254 votes.
"I wasn't just campaigning against the speaker of the House. I was campaigning against the entire Democratic establishment," said Iwamoto, House District 25 Elect. " I'm really happy that the people wanted something more, that they saw that they deserve better than what the establishment wanted to offer them."
Saiki attended Sunday's Unity Breakfast and released a statement saying, "I believe the community recognizes our team’s hard work and commitment and I’m proud of what we accomplished … To serve House District 25 has been the honor of a lifetime, and I again want to say Mahalo for all of the support."
Now Democrats will be deciding who will fill the open House Speaker position.
"When the caucus comes together and if offered, I would definitely take a look at it, but the discussions are going on," said Representative Nadine Nakamura.
In the race for State Senate District 23, Ben Shafer secured 3,337 votes defeating veteran lawmaker Clayton Hee who received 2,585 votes. District 23 includes Kaneohe, Kahaluu through Laie, Kahuku to Mokuleia, Schofield Barracks and Kunia Camp.
"Brenton Awa is is a very good contender. I think our communities want somebody who is going to be at the meetings. We want somebody who's going to be involved in what's going on," stated Shafer.
Shafer will face Republican Senator Brenton Awa in the General Election in November.
"We chose to focus 100 percent on the job and zero percent on campaigning, because I come from a community that believes that actions speak louder than words," said Senator Awa. "We're not going to talk and talk like everybody else. All we're going to do is the work."