| Mayor of Hawaii County | |
|---|---|
 | |
Incumbent Mitch Roth since December 7, 2020 | |
| Inaugural holder | Shunichi Kimura |
| Formation | 1968 |
The Mayor of Hawaii is the chief executive officer of the County of Hawaii in the state of Hawaii. The mayor has municipal jurisdiction over the Big Island of Hawaii. The current mayor is Mitch Roth. [1] The Mayor of Hawaii County is the successor of the Royal Governors of Hawaii Island of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Hawaii County began electing a mayor in 1968 when the present form of charter government was instituted. For most of the 20th century elected members of the Board of Supervisors, precursor to the Hawaii County Council, chose the chairman, and that chairman was essentially the chief operating officer of Hawaii County. That changed in 1964 a year after Act 73 of the 1963 Legislature which enabled counties to draft their own charters. Former Honolulu deputy County Corporation Counsel Shunichi Kimura was elected the last County Chairman in 1964 and the County elected its first mayor in 1968. Bruce McCall (1976), Megumi Kon (1984) and Larry Tanimoto (1990) all filled out the last few months of their predecessor's terms, in the case of Tanimoto, for Bernard Akana, who died of cancer less than two years into his term. Lorraine Inouye then won a special election to serve out Akana's last two years.
| Term in Office | Name | Party | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968–May 1974 | Shunichi Kimura | Democrat | Resigned to become a 3rd Circuit Court judge. [2] |
| May 1974 - 1974 | Bruce McCall | Democrat | Kimura's managing director; became mayor after his resignation. [2] |
| 1974–1984 | Herbert Matayoshi | Democrat | Resigned to run for Hawaii State Senate [2] |
| 1984 | Megumi Kon | Democrat | Matayoshi's managing director; became mayor after his resignation [2] |
| 1984–1988 | Dante Keala Carpenter | Democrat | Lost reelection to Akana in 1989 [3] |
| 1988–April 12, 1990 | Bernard Akana | Republican | Died of cancer while in office [4] |
| April 12, 1990 - 1990 | Larry Tanimoto | Republican | Bernard Akana's managing director after Susan Labrenz left the post earlier; became mayor after Akana's death for eight months until the special election to fill Akana's term. [5] |
| 1990–December 7, 1992 | Lorraine Inouye | Democrat | Won special election held eight months after Akana's death. [6] |
| December 7, 1992 – December 2000 | Stephen Kei Yamashiro | Democrat | |
| December 2000 – December 1, 2008 | Harry Kim | Republican and unaffiliated | In the 2004 elections, local laws were changed so mayoral candidates were without party affiliations. |
| December 1, 2008 – December 5, 2016 | Billy Kenoi | Unaffiliated | |
| December 5, 2016 - December 7, 2020 | Harry Kim | Unaffiliated | |
| December 7, 2020 - Incumbent | Mitch Roth | Unaffiliated |
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