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KAUAI MAYOR

About the 2026 Kauaʻi Mayoral Race — Open Seat

The 2026 Kauaʻi mayoral race is an open seat: incumbent Mayor Derek Kawakami is term-limited after serving two full terms (2018–2026) and cannot seek re-election. That makes this the first truly open mayoral contest on Kauaʻi in eight years, with no incumbent advantage on the ballot. As of the May 2026 official snapshot, these candidates filed for the race: Mel Rapozo, Bernard Carvalho Jr., Felicia Cowden, Megeso-William Denis, Laura Andaya-Lindsey, and Michaela B. Widener. Housing affordability is a prominent issue across the race — Kauaʻi median home prices have surpassed $900,000. Short-term rental (STR) enforcement, county permitting reform, tourism management, and infrastructure investment are among the policy areas candidates have addressed in filing and campaign coverage. Voters should consult candidate websites, KKCR Elections forum recordings, and local news for verifiable stances from each candidate.

Open seat — no incumbent running.

Primary date: 2026-08-08

RAPOZO, Mel

Party: Nonpartisan · Backing: Establishment

Platform: Council Chair with 21 years in the Air National Guard and 13 years with KPD; running for mayor on public-safety and fiscal-discipline platform.

  • Council Chair Mel Rapozo identifies solid waste and landfill capacity as Kauaʻi's single most pressing near-term crisis: the existing landfill is approaching maximum capacity with no established plan for a new site, and he has led council resolutions pressing the administration to accelerate recycling programs and explore alternative waste-management technologies.
  • Twenty-one years in the Hawaiʻi Air National Guard and thirteen years on the Kauaʻi Police Department; campaigns on putting public-safety experience at the center of county leadership.
  • On homelessness: commits to combining compassion with accountability — expanding supportive housing that connects shelter with mental-health services, recovery programs, and job training, while protecting safety in public parks and neighborhoods.
  • On affordable housing: will streamline county permitting and zoning to unlock more housing, support first-time homebuyers, and protect neighborhood character while balancing growth with infrastructure capacity.
  • Supports targeted property-tax relief for owner-occupant residents and restraint on new county tax increases; treats visitor-industry revenue as a key county funding source.
  • In the June 2026 Civil Beat candidate Q&A: would manage tourism by enforcing existing vacation-rental rules more rigorously rather than imposing new visitor caps; opposes broad new tourism taxes but supports using existing visitor-revenue streams to fund county infrastructure.
  • On sovereignty: has not made Hawaiian sovereignty a centerpiece of his platform; public record reflects respect for Native Hawaiian culture and support for historic preservation processes, with limited detailed position statements on self-governance questions.

Editorial summary: Mel Rapozo brings a career in public safety and decades of council experience to the 2026 mayoral race. His campaign site (melformayor.org), prior council record, and June 2026 Civil Beat Q&A foreground the landfill crisis, affordable housing permitting reform, a compassion-with-accountability approach to homelessness, and fiscal discipline — with tourism managed through stricter short-term rental enforcement rather than new visitor caps.

Key issues: Solid waste / landfill crisis, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Public safety, County fiscal discipline

Website: https://www.melformayor.org

Profile last reviewed: 2026-06-19

Other candidates in this race