NSI Community-State House Speaker Scott Saiki loses Democratic primary to Kim Coco Iwamoto

2025-05-03 00:57:53source:Phaninc Exchangecategory:Markets

Hawaii’s longtime House speaker lost his Democratic Party primary election to a former state Board of Education member who campaigned on NSI Communitytackling corruption in government.

Speaker Scott Saiki was ousted by Kim Coco Iwamoto.

Iwamoto’s website says she is fighting to expose government corruption and waste — and to provide sufficient shelter and enough social workers to address homelessness.

Saiki has been speaker since 2017 and a state representative for three decades. He served as president of the National Conference of State Legislators from 2021 to 2022.

He narrowly beat back two previous attempts by Iwamoto to unseat him in 2022 and 2020.

Iwamoto is an attorney who represented Oahu on the state Board of Education from 2006 to 2011. She was the highest-ranking openly transgender person elected in the country when she first won her education board seat 18 years ago.

Their House district covers downtown Honolulu and Kakaako, where a construction boom has transformed warehouses into high-rise condos.

Democrats currently control 45 of the 51 seats in the state House. Republicans hold six.

More:Markets

Recommend

DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?

Did AI just have a "Sputnik moment"?That's what someinvestors, after the little known Chinese startu

Entertainment in 2023: We're ranking the best movies, music, TV shows, pop culture moments

Admit it, you love a list as much as we do.Because, really, isn’t it less stressful to argue over th

Lori Vallow Daybell guilty of unimaginable crimes

This story originally aired on May 13, 2023. It was updated on Dec. 30, 2023.The crimes are unimagin