Parliament Speaker Saiki still trails Iwamoto in the second vote

Former state Board of Education member Kim Coco Iwamoto gained an early lead over state House Speaker Scott Saiki tonight and now represents parts of downtown as well as Ala Moana and Kakaako in a Democratic Party primary where the future of House leadership is at stake.

In her last Democratic primary in 2022, Saiki defeated Iwamoto by just 161 votes, with 2,680 votes compared to 2,519 for Iwamoto.

After the second count of results by the state election office this evening, Iwamoto had a lead of 202 votes over Saiki, reflecting a large majority of the votes cast.

With election results again close tonight, it is possible that the final outcome for House Seat 25 will not be known until Sunday morning, when all votes are expected to be counted.

By Friday evening, more than 229,000 registered voters had cast their votes, most of them by mail.

In the other high-profile House primary, House Representative Trish La Chica (D, Waipio-Mililani) is running against political newcomer Ken Inouye, the son of the late U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye.

La Chica gained a significant lead over Inouye in second-round poll results tonight.

In Senate District 23, Democrat Ben Shafer had a nearly 56% to 44% lead over former state Senator Clayton Hee. The winner will face Republican incumbent Senator Brenton Awa, who is running unopposed.

Click here to view the latest results from the 2024 primary election.