Hawaii Mayoral Elections are accepting mail-in ballots until Election Day on Tuesday November 3, 2020. Hawaii residents were mailed the voting ballot and asked to fill out the ballot and mail it to a designated drop box.

    There are two candidates for Mayor of Honolulu. This year the candidates are Keith Amemiya and Rick Blangiardi. The following includes their individual pledges and statements.

Keith Amemiya is a first-time candidate that was heavily involved in multiple political positons or the supporting of politicians previously. He served Oʻahu as a business executive, nonprofit leader, and lawyer.

His main focuses will be on strengthening communication between the community and government, more action towards restoration after COVID-19, and more talk about issues that no one ‘dares’ to talk about.

Amemiya pledges to focus on rebuilding trust between the people and government authorities with the creation of the Office of Community Engagement to ensure the needs of the people are met. He aims to normalize open talk about social discrimation and improve police accountability and their voicing of these issues to offer “true oversight.” “We need a fresh perspective. We need to restore trust in governments,” he says.

He is concerned about how the current conditions affect the people’s safe use of public transportation. He wishes to create affordable, accessible, and efficient means of transportation; this includes the overseeing of rail. 

Amemiya is planning to focus on reopening and preparing for tourism to assist in recovery of the economy. He plans to increase safety precautions and measures taken to ensure safety of hospitality workers then gradually welcome tourists back.

He includes in his pledge that there is urgency for preservation of the environment and he will take action with the implementation of green visitor fees and use of renewable energy sources.

    Before becoming a candidate for mayor of Honolulu, Rick Blangiardi was a football coach at the University of Hawaii and television executive in Hawaii, Washington, California and Missouri.

Rick Blangiardi is an independent who says economic recovery, homelessness, affordable housing, community safety and government transparency will be his top priorities as mayor.

Blangiardi says Honolulu faces many challenges that will require a kind of leader who knows how to make tough decisions and can think outside the box. 

“I decided to run for Mayor because I firmly believe Honolulu is now – even before COVID-19 – facing unprecedented challenges that will define the character and quality of life for our residents for generations to come,” he said.

Blangiardi said his experience as a football player, coach and 43 years in the  broadcast industry gives him a unique perspective to see the challenges facing Honolulu. He is promising leadership to restore confidence and get more people back to work in the aftermath of COVID-19. A 14-page “Roadmap To Recovery” paper which can be downloaded from Blangiardi’s campaign website which explains what he plans to do in his first 90 days as mayor to recover from the pandemic.

On Tuesday, November 3, Honolulu voters will submit their ballots and choose whether Keith Amemiya or Rick Blangiardi is the best candidate to become mayor.