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
Name | Term of Office | Notes |
Antone Vidinha | 1969 1972 | First mayor of Kauai; served two consecutive terms. Defeated for re-election in 1972. |
Francis M. F. Ching | 1972 1974 | |
Eduardo Malapit | 1974 1982 | |
Tony Kunimura | 1982 1988 | Defeated for re-election in the 1988 mayoral primary by JoAnn Yukimura. |
JoAnn Yukimura | 1988 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 Kusaka | December 1994 December 2, 2002 | |
Bryan Baptiste | December 2, 2002 June 22, 2008 | Died in office on June 22, 2008 |
Gary Heu | June 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 Asing | July 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 Carvalho | December 1, 2008 December 3, 2018 | |
Derek Kawakami | December 3, 2018 present | Incumbent. |