By Michael Brestovansky

Most incumbents cruised to easy wins in Hawai‘i’s midterm elections Tuesday.

Gov. Josh Green will remain in office for another four years, although with a new lieutenant governor, Derek Kawakami, replacing current Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke. The Green/Kawakami ticket handily beat Republican challenger Gary Cordery and running mate Daniel Anthony by roughly 170,000 votes, according to data by the Hawai‘i Office of Elections.

Voter turnout was low compared to previous midterm elections. Only 42.9% of registered voters — just under 366,000 people — cast ballots in the general election. Nearly all of those were mail-in ballots, with only about 17,000 votes cast in person.

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Sherry Menor, president and CEO of Chamber of Commerce Hawai‘i, told Aloha State Daily Wednesday that the new faces in the Legislature gives the business community “an opportunity … to meet them, connect with them and build that relationship so, collectively, we can build a better business climate.”

“This is the year to do it,” Menor continued. “We’ve seen so many dismal numbers and percentages, such as outmigration, families considering moving, as well as the local businesses and how their being impacted, so this is the year to transform our economy and build that better business climate.”