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King endorses Bissen in the mayor’s race; Victorino is ‘not surprised’

Molina declines to pick a candidate as general election approaches

Maui County Council Member and former mayoral candidate Kelly King endorses retired 2nd Circuit Court Chief Judge Richard Bissen in his race for Maui County mayor Tuesday afternoon. Mayor Michael Victorino was unsurprised by the move. “I guess it’s true that politics makes for strange bedfellows,” he said. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos

WAILUKU — Maui County mayoral candidate Richard Bissen. Jr. was endorsed Tuesday by his former opponent and current Maui County Council Member Kelly King.

King, who finished third in the mayoral race in the primary with 6,350 votes, behind Mayor Michael Victorino’s 11,747 votes and Bissen’s 13,407, said she arrived at her decision after having meetings with Bissen, a retired state judge, and learning how many issues the two agreed upon.

King said during a news conference at a residence in Wailuku Country Estates that it was disappointing to finish third, but she remains hopeful for the county.

“While I wrestled with the results, and whether or not to even make a public endorsement, I am now confident that the best candidate to lead our county for the next four years is Richard Bissen,” King said.

“I came away from our meetings with real hope that Richard Bissen will bring vision and practicality to our county government, and that he will continue to listen honestly to community input and be respectful and collaborative in his responses,” she later added.

Richard Bissen answers question after being endorsed by Maui County Council Member and former Maui mayoral candidate Kelly King (right) Tuesday afternoon.

She said there were “no deals” made with Bissen and that she is not seeking a county job and he was not seeking an endorsement.

Bissen was also at the news conference, and when asked if the endorsement would help pave the way to victory, he said he was “not sure about that.”

“But we are working as hard as we can, we are going to tell our supporters and hopefully our new supporters to go out and vote,” he said.

“We think need every single vote our there,” he said. “Obviously this is great news for our campaign, we want more support even from the other candidates at this point.”

Bissen also confirmed during the news conference that he did not seek an endorsement and King did not seek a position for herself or anyone else.

Mayor Michael Victorino engages in a debate Saturday night at Seabury Hall.

“These are steps that lead to pono politics, not politics as usual,” he said.

In an email statement Tuesday afternoon, Victorino said: “I’m not surprised or concerned.–I guess it’s true that politics makes for strange bedfellows. Given my environmental initiatives, we’re finding many of her supporters have already been drawn to my campaign.”

King, who ran on a platform of being a climate change mayor, has been backed by Maui progressive groups and some environmentalists. Bissen’s supporters have included high-profile business and development officials as well as former Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, who also as Maui County mayor and worked with Bissen when he served in her cabinet.

University of Hawaii political analyst Colin Moore said he too was not surprised by King’s endorsement.

“I thought that because there had been so many battles between the progressives and Victorino, that most of the progressives would back Bissen and so I think for Bissen, this is great news,” Moore said.

He added that with King and Maui County Council Member Mike Molina — who has previously been backed by progressive groups — now out of the race, progressive voters “would all either cast a blank ballot or support Bissen.”

But Moore said he did hear of some progressives backing Victorino.

Overall, Moore said his understanding is that Bissen continues to lead “and is the odds-on favorite because he came out on top of the primary.”

“This is really important for Bissen now, Kelly King is extremely well-known, was the main progressive candidate and this will give a strong signal to progressives on Maui that Bissen is their candidate,” Moore said.

Asked if the endorsement could give Bissen the win, Moore said, “I think it is.”

He said with Bissen having King’s endorsement and being the top vote-getter in the primary, “it’s harder and harder for me to see a path to victory for Victorino.”

Fourth-place finisher in the primary and current Council Member Molina declined to give an endorsement Tuesday afternoon when reached for comment.

“For me as far as endorsements go, it’s a toss up. Lately the mayor has been very receptive to legislation that has been initiated by the council, which includes two of my pieces of legislation related to the Baby Beach acquisition, and tax relief for our disabled veterans,” Molina said.

As for Bissen, Molina said, “He’s certainly excelled in a very difficult profession which demands very high ethical standards, and making decisions that affect people’s lives. His knowledge of the law will certainly serve him well if he is elected mayor. He’s certainly well-qualified to serve as our mayor.”

“My hope is that whoever prevails that they keep their campaign commitments and be open to meeting and listening to constituent concerns and be responsive to those concerns in a timely fashion,” Molina added.

King said during the news conference that she was “surprised” at how many issues she and Bissen agreed upon, including the “folly of fighting the Lahiana injection well lawsuit” instead of putting that $4 million into clean water solutions, along with the need for more qualified, non-political director appointments and the importance of reassigning executive administrative positions to create better efficiency in government.

Bissen also reflected on the issues the two discussed and said that “we have so much more that we can accomplish when we work together.”

“We are all in agreement that the mayor’s administration must work openly and honestly with the County Council and the community in a truly collaborative style,” Bissen said.

Victorino disagreed with King and other council members over his decision to move forward with the county’s case before the U.S. Supreme Court over its use of injection wells. The court ultimately ruled in favor of the environmental groups who filed suit, but Victorino maintained Tuesday that “it was necessary to obtain clarification from the U.S. Supreme Court on use of recycled water on areas like farms, golf courses and hotels.”

“Maui County’s litigation in the Lahaina injection well case was successful in providing guidelines to interpret the Clean Water Act. The new test provided by the U.S. Supreme Court provided necessary clarity so that we can continue to move forward with the use of recycled water,” he said.

Victorino said the county has been transitioning away from the use of injection wells for years, but to complete that transition the county wanted clarification from the Supreme Court.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.

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