Alan Arakawa

Alan M. Arakawa (born 1951) is an American politician who served as the fifth and seventh mayor of the County of Maui in Hawaii.[2][3]

Alan Arakawa
5th and 7th Mayor of Maui
In office
January 2, 2011 – January 3, 2019
Preceded byCharmaine Tavares
Succeeded byMike Victorino
In office
January 2, 2003 – January 2, 2007
Preceded byJames "Kimo" Apana
Succeeded byCharmaine Tavares
Personal details
Born1951 (age 71–72)
Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic[1]
Republican (formerly)
SpouseAnn Arakawa
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
ProfessionPolitician

Education

Arakawa graduated from Maui High School and attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa as a business major.[4]

Career

In 1984, Arakawa entered civil service as a wastewater plant worker for Maui County and eventually was promoted to supervisor in the wastewater division of the Maui County Department of Public Works. Arakawa also represented labor unions, serving as a United Public Workers chief steward and a Hawaii Government Employees Association union representative. He served on the Maui County Council in 1994, 1996, and 2000.[4]

2002 mayoral election

Arakawa first ran for mayor in 2002. After placing second in the September 21, 2002 primary behind former Maui mayor Kimo Apana, Arakawa won the general election with 20,887 votes (50.3%).[5]

2006 mayoral election

In 2006, Arakawa ran for reelection. In the primaries he faced Apana again and city councilmember Charmaine Tavares, daughter of the late mayor Hannibal Tavares. In the primary, he trailed Tavares by about 100 votes. In the general election, he was defeated by Tavares.

2010 mayoral election

On June 18, 2010, Arakawa filed to run for the Mayor of Maui County. He placed second in the mayoral primary election on September 18, 2010.[6] Incumbent mayor Charmaine Tavares narrowly won the primary election with 7,307 votes, or 25.4% of the total.[6] She defeated Arakawa by just 268 votes.[6] Arakawa earned 7,039 votes, or 24.4% of the vote.[6] Arakawa won 23 of Maui's 39 election precincts, mostly in South and West Maui, while Tavares won 11 precincts in Central Maui.[6]

Both Tavares and Arakawa qualified for the 2010 mayoral general election on November 2, 2010.[6] The race was a rematch of the 2006 mayoral election, in which incumbent mayor Arakawa was defeated by Tavares.[7][8] In the final vote tally, Arakawa defeated Tavares with nearly 59% of the vote to her 41%.[2]

2014 mayoral election

In the general election on November 4, 2014, Arakawa won reelection with 25,435 votes (55.3%) over Tam Paltin.[9]

2018 election

In May 2017, Arakawa announced he would run for lieutenant governor of Hawaii. But in November 2017, he changed course and said he would instead run for his former seat on the Maui County Council representing Kahului.[10]

In the August 11 primary, Arakawa received 11,790 votes, second to community organizer Natalie "Tasha" Kama's 12,712 votes.[11] Arakawa lost to Kama in the November 6 general election by nearly 11,000 votes.[12]

Personal life

Arakawa is married to Ann Arakawa, assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College. They have two daughters, Jan and Jodi.[4]

References
  1. "Arakawa now a Democrat". Maui Watch. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  2. "Arakawa defeats Tavares in race for Maui Mayor". Hawaii News Now. 3 November 2010. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  3. "GISUser.com - Maui County Taps DigitalGlobe Satellite Imagery for County-Wide Applications". Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  4. "Hawaii Floriculture Conference". University of Hawaii at Manoa. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  5. "Open Primary Elections 2002" (PDF). September 22, 2002.
  6. Perry, Brian (2010-09-20). "Tavares' strength in Central Maui; Arakawa strongholds in South and West Maui". Maui News. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  7. Kabuto, Gary T. (2010-09-18). "Maui mayor's race shaping up to be a re-match". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Archived from the original on 22 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  8. David, Mari-Ela (19 September 2010). "Tavares, Arakawa to square off in General Election". Maui News. Archived from the original on 22 September 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  9. "General elections 2014 final summary report" (PDF). November 5, 2014.
  10. Eppin, Jamilia (8 November 2017). "Arakawa Changes Course, Now Running for Kahului Council Seat". Maui Watch. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  11. Sugidono, Chris (28 October 2018). "Arakawa seeks old council seat". Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  12. Russo, Tommy (27 February 2019). "Councilmember Tasha Kama Flexes: Vote to confirm Wong signals independence". Maui Time. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
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