HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – It’s a neck-and-neck race for Hawaii County mayor as candidates try to prevent incumbent Mitch Roth from serving a second term.

Roth has to compete with six competitors.

One of the first candidates to announce his candidacy was Dr. Kimo Alameda, who served as director of the county’s Office of Aging under Mayors Billy Kenoi and Harry Kim. Alameda had secured an endorsement from the Hawaii Iron Workers Union Local 625.

Hilo businesswoman Breeani Kobayashi is also running, with affordable housing being one of her key issues.

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“I think the term ‘affordable housing’ has been around for so long that people are losing hope of what that word even means,” she said. “I would really welcome the opportunity to work with the community and find ways and solutions to keep families here.”

Hilo pastor Junior Tupai has also filed his candidacy. Two years ago, Tupai was Republican Duke Aiona’s vice presidential candidate for lieutenant governor.

Despite the criticism, Roth says the district has made progress under his leadership.

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“When we launched, UHERO claimed we had the worst permitting system in the country. UHERO just released a recent report showing that we are actually the best in the state,” he said.

“Nevertheless, there is still a lot of room for improvement.”

The other candidates for mayor in Hawaii County are Daniel Cunningham, Kavin Kahikina and Yumi Kawano.

If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the general election will be a runoff election between the two candidates with the most votes.

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