Mayor of Kauai


The Mayor of Kauai is the chief executive officer of the County of Kauai in the state of Hawaii. He or she has municipal jurisdiction over the islands of Kauai and Ni’ihau. Derek Kawakami was elected on November 6, 2018 as the mayor of Kauai over JoAnn A. Yukimura, who was Kauai's mayor from 1988 to 1992, with 15,857 votes out of 40,323 registered voters in the County of Kauai. The Mayor of Kauai is the successor of the Royal Governors of Kauai of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
The most recent previous mayor of Kauai, Bryan J. Baptiste, served from 2002 until his death on June 22, 2008. Bill "Kaipo" Asing was sworn as acting mayor on July 17, 2008, until a special election could be held to fill the remaining two years of Baptiste's term.
Bernard Carvalho was elected on November 4, 2008 to complete the remaining two years of Baptiste's unexpired term.

List of mayors of Kauai

NameTerm of OfficeNotes
Antone Vidinha1969

1972
First mayor of Kauai; served two consecutive terms. Defeated for re-election in 1972.
Francis M. F. Ching1972

1974
Eduardo Malapit1974

1982
Tony Kunimura1982

1988
Defeated for re-election in the 1988 mayoral primary by JoAnn Yukimura.
JoAnn Yukimura1988

December 1994
First female mayor of Kauai. Defeated by Jimmy Tehada in primary election, who was defeated by Maryanne Kusaka in the 1994 general election
Maryanne KusakaDecember 1994

December 2, 2002
Bryan BaptisteDecember 2, 2002

June 22, 2008
Died in office on June 22, 2008
Gary HeuJune 22, 2008

July 17, 2008
Baptiste's administrative assistant who served as acting mayor from Baptiste's death until Asing was sworn in as interim mayor on July 17, 2008.
Kaipo AsingJuly 17, 2008

December 1, 2008
Elected interim mayor by the Kauai County Council until the special election to fill the remainder of Baptiste's unexpired term.
Bernard CarvalhoDecember 1, 2008

December 3, 2018
Derek KawakamiDecember 3, 2018

present
Incumbent.