Hawaiʻi’s Green Party Finally Lodges Big Win After Decades

Nick Nikhilananda has been a member of the Green Party of Hawaiʻi for nearly 35 years. His history is so deep that he played a role in getting the party on Hawaiʻi’s ballot for the first time, way back in 1992. That was accomplished along with people like the late Ira Rohter, a University of Hawaiʻi political science professor who helped found and co-chair the group. The Green Party has fielded dozens of candidates over the years, including Nikhilananda himself. It saw a couple of them elected in the 1990s to the Hawaiʻi County Council, which today is nonpartisan like all county offices. But Greens have not succeeded in getting more members elected since. The state is too dominated by Democrats with Republicans comprising a weak yet vocal minority. On Nov. 3, that all changed, at least for one seat in the 76-member Legislature. Pāʻele Kiakona, a Green, defeated Democrat Sne Patel and Republican Elle Cochran in House District 14 representing the Lahaina area.

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