Hawaii › Maui County › Maui County Mayor
2 candidates are tracked for Maui County Mayor on the November 3, 2026 ballot: Richard T. Bissen, Jr. and Yuki Lei Sugimura. Candidate information follows official Maui County election filings; verify with the official election office linked below.
Richard Bissen (15,709 votes) and Yuki Lei Sugimura (11,438) advance to the November 3, 2026 general election, per the Hawaii Office of Elections' official August 8 primary results. Maui County holds a primary only when more than two candidates file, and races are never decided at the primary: the top two always advance to November 3, per Civil Beat's charter explainer and Maui Now.
Incumbent Maui County mayor, formerly a prosecutor and judge, per his Civil Beat candidate Q&A; he won every district in the primary, including West Maui, where Lahaina wildfire recovery has been the biggest test of his first term, per Maui Now.
2026 priorities
- Maintain housing momentum after increasing affordable housing production, per his Civil Beat Q&A
- Raise public stewardship of West Maui drinking water through acquisitions, per his Civil Beat Q&A
- Recovery and readiness, including a new Emergency Operations Center, per his campaign site
Source: candidate campaign site, roster verified 2026-08-13.
Campaign site →
Maui County Council vice chair who held the council's Upcountry residency seat for roughly a decade and gave it up to run for mayor, per Maui Now, which reported she led the incumbent in pre-primary fundraising.
2026 priorities
- Speed up permit and project reviews so homes can actually get built, per her Civil Beat Q&A
- Invest in water, wastewater and roadway infrastructure that unlocks home building, per her Civil Beat Q&A
- Cesspool conversions supported by county property tax credits, per her Civil Beat Q&A
Source: candidate campaign site, roster verified 2026-08-13.
Campaign site →
