Meet Yumi Kawano, an Independent Candidate for Hawaii County

Yumi Kawano is running an independent campaign for mayor in Hawaii County, Hawaii. Hawaii County includes the entire Island of Hawaii, which is often nicknamed the “Big Island.” The Island of Hawaii is home to the cities of Hilo, Na’alehu, Pahoa, Waimea, and Kailua-Kona, among others.

GoodParty.org spoke with Kawano about her mayoral campaign, experience, and vision for the future of the Big Island.

Yumi Kawano: An Educator and Biologist for the Big Island

Kawano is a teacher and a wildlife and plant biologist. She has had experience teaching all ages across the Island of Hawaii, from kindergarteners to college students at the University of Hawaii-Hilo.

Kawano is passionate about teaching, as well as about serving and listening to her community.

 “I love teaching island-wide, so I feel I'm in touch as best I can with the whole island,” Kawano said. “I think teachers understand the heartbeat of communities, because we're teaching their children.”

Kawano’s other passion is rainforest conservation. One of her campaign’s top priorities is to ensure the fair and wise use of the Big Island’s land and resources.

“My vision for being mayor is that I want to make this the most beautiful place in the world, where we're the greatest example of earthcare and taking care of each other. One of my measurable goals is to restore the rainforest and replant native trees on the Island of Hawaii,” Kawano said.

Along with her husband, who is a combat veteran and a native of Waianae, Kawano has been working to restore the rainforest on her two acres, the Alaula Kipuka Refuge.

“I'm a trained biologist working with threatened and endangered species, and I'm seeing what happens when you put back the native plants, the native trees especially,” Kawano said. “We have Rapid Ohi’a Death which is killing our trees right now. We can help with putting back the trees.”

Kawano said understanding the ways that climate change and other factors are impacting the island’s rainforests is an important qualification for leading the island.

“I think that's a big-picture qualification, being that we're in a climate catastrophe and you'd have to be in denial if you don't think there is climate change. There is; you'd be in denial if you don't think that,” Kawano said.

From Tachikawa, Japan to Hawaii County

Kawano was born on the U.S. Air Force base in Tachikawa, Japan. She grew up overseas and in Ohio, where she participated in a forest restoration program in the Wayne National Forest. She first visited Hawaii around 1992.

“My brother's film premiered in Hawaii, and I went to all the islands,” Kawano said. “I loved this island. I always thought I'd love to come back. Then after I graduated from college, I considered coming here as a teacher.”

In 2004, Kawano moved to Hawaii.

“I've lived all over the island,” she said. “I started in Honoka'a, which is a small town on the northeast side of the island. Then I ended up on the west side helping a Hawaiian family run a kayak business for a while. My husband and I met on that side at a Valentine's dance at my son's elementary school. Then we ended up in Volcano in about 2006, about 18 years ago.”

Since then, Kawano has become an important part of her community, serving on the Puna Community Development Plan Action Committee. She has also served as an interpreter in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.

Advocating for the Island of Hawaii

As mayor, Kawano hopes to provide better representation for the Big Island. Seeing the local government’s past failures to provide needed services for the community helped motivate her to run for office.

“A big part of what's made me want to run is having been and still being the wife and spouse of a combat veteran,” Kawano said. “We're so depleted in services here. Our whole state is, really. That’s made me a very strong advocate for my husband and for the kinds of services he needs to have gotten better for his recovery.”

Unlike most other states, Hawaii does not have a dedicated veterans’ hospital.

“You have VA hospitals throughout most states, in all your major cities and even small cities. But this state does not even have a veterans’ hospital. I think that's not right,” Kawano said. “There seems to be some inequity in that, so it’s a big problem. A lot of our veterans and our caregivers go without greatly needed care.”

Kawano emphasized the need to build a strong community support system for veterans and their families, as well as to advocate for better public services.

“I just don't take no for an answer. If you're under my care, I'll make sure you get your care,” Kawano said.

Another experience that inspired Kawano’s campaign was witnessing the county government’s response to the 2018 Kīlauea volcano eruption. Kawano was a member of the Puna Community Development Plan Action Committee during the subsequent lava flows.

“During the horrendous lava flow in 2018, I really saw the county government ignore people in great, dire need,” Kawano said. “We were pleading to open roads. I was the chair of the connectivity committee and it was very sad, very, very, troubling.”

Kawano said she wants to serve the Island of Hawaii better by listening to residents’ needs.

“I want people to feel heard. I think that’s important, and one of the most important things I'm asking folks is, if government is for the people and by the people, and I'm here to serve the people and I mean it, then how do I keep in contact with you on a regular basis?” Kawano said.

Affordable housing is another issue close to the heart of Kawano’s campaign.

“Affordable housing is a big issue, and it's a complex one, too, because it involves vacation rentals. A lot of folks have been making money doing that. Even people out of state do that, but it's made it almost impossible for people to get housing,” Kawano said. “I went through that myself 20 years ago, and it's just gotten incredibly worse. All the islands are trying to solve that problem.”

Running for Mayor as an Independent Candidate

Both in 2020 and 2024, Kawano has run for office as a proudly non-partisan candidate. 

“I've always been independent. I've never joined a party. I'm one of those kinds of people who just switch back and forth based on the candidates, who I think would be qualified or not,” Kawano said.

Hawaii County’s mayoral election is a non-partisan race. However, Kawano has still faced pushback for her independent status. During her 2020 mayoral campaign, for example, Kawano found herself excluded from a candidate debate because she was not a member of the Democratic Party.

“I said to them, ‘Well, isn't that contrary to your label, the Democratic Party? That's not democratic.’ So there's a lot of contradictions,” Kawano said. “That's one of the reasons I run, because I learn a lot about how things work here, which is really eye-opening. If all I do is get people involved, I feel like I've done something, win or lose. I want to inspire people to get involved and not feel like their voice doesn't count, because it does.”

Part of Kawano’s campaign has been focused on encouraging more Hawaii County residents to get involved in their local government.

“My motto is, be the change and make the change,” Kawano said. “To make the change, each individual has to be the change in whatever we need to do to take care of ourselves. We have to take care of ourselves first and foremost, because you can't give out of an empty bucket.

“One of my goals is to get people registered to vote, and I am really focusing on folks who don't normally vote. So I carry registration applications and I ask folks to register to vote, and I give them an application. It's really fun to inspire people that their voice matters — because it does.”

Become Part of the Independent Movement

As a GoodParty.org Certified candidate, Kawano is one of hundreds of independent candidates running for office across the country.

Want to become part of the movement for better representation? You can get involved in a number of ways:

• For those local to Hawaii County, you can visit Kawano’s campaign website to learn more and see how you can make a difference.

• To volunteer in support of Kawano and other independent candidates across the United States, become part of GoodParty.org’s growing volunteer network. There are a variety of ways to get involved, from door-to-door canvassing to raising awareness on social media.

• Bring meaningful representation to your community by running for office as an independent candidate — or by encouraging someone you trust to run for office to represent you. GoodParty.org offers free and low-cost campaign tools for independent, non-partisan, and third-party campaigns. Learn more by booking a meeting with our team here.