Big Island council hopefuls outline priorities for county voters
Dennis Onishi, Kelton Chang and Jennifer Kagiwada are asking District 3 voters to judge county fixes on roads, housing, permits and water, not broad campaign talk.
Dennis “Fresh” Onishi is running in the Hilo-area District 3 race with a pitch grounded in county government itself: roads, housing, permits, water and the budget. The three hopefuls highlighted in the latest council candidate coverage, Onishi, Kelton Chang and Jennifer Kagiwada, are all trying to show voters that the county council’s nine seats can still shape the daily problems people feel from Hilo to Puna, Waimea and the Kona side.
That matters because the council’s reach is practical, not abstract. Hawaii County lawmakers decide spending priorities, weigh land-use questions and set the rules that affect neighborhoods, businesses and families. In a county as large and uneven as the Big Island, those decisions can determine whether a drainage complaint gets fixed, whether a permit moves, or whether a road repair reaches a rural subdivision before the next storm.
Onishi’s county biography gives the race a distinctly local frame. He was born and raised in Hilo and spent 29 years working for the County of Hawaii, a background that fits a contest defined less by ideology than by how well a candidate understands county departments and neighborhood-level service gaps. District 3 is the Hilo-area seat, and the winner will represent a part of the island where residents expect government to be visible, responsive and familiar with local frustrations.
The campaign conversation around the district has also reflected a set of problems that fall squarely within county control. Candidate Q&A coverage in recent election season has put AirBnBs and wastewater on the table, alongside the broader concerns of housing supply, permitting delays, road maintenance, water and drainage. Those are the kinds of issues voters can measure against first-year governing tests, not just slogans.
The race is unfolding in a crowded county field. Big Island Now counted 29 candidates who met the June 3 filing deadline for the Hawaii County Council race, underscoring how much weight each district seat carries. The Hawaii Office of Elections says candidate statements and photos are part of the voter guide, and the primary election is set for Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026, giving District 3 voters one more way to compare the promises they hear with the powers the council actually holds.
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