BEN'S EIGHT YEARS

    DECEMBER 1, 2002  - He is one of Hawaii's most controversial and complicated political figures.
    Ben Cayetano, 63, leaves state government tomorrow at noon after serving a total of 28 years as a state representative, senator, lieutenant governor and governor. details  and Jan 2003 followup

LEE BEATS CAINDEC-STEWART, ONTAI WINNER OVER NEKOTA, MENOR FILLS SEAT VACATED BY IWASE

    NOVEMBER 7, 2000 - Incumbent Marilyn Lee (d) and Kamehameha School's teacher  Guy Ontai (r) were elected to the State House of Representatives.
    Lee beat republican challenger Chita Caindec-Stewart with 4,448 votes or 62.3% of the total votes cast.
    Republican Ontai beat long-time democrat Charlotte Nekota with 6,008 votes or 53.5% of the total votes cast. Ontai will fill the seat vacated by Ron Menor, who ran for the Senate seat vacated by Randy Iwase. Menor was unopposed in the general election.

Nekota vs. Ontai
EDUCATION TOP CONCERN FOR MILILANI VOTERS
From Honolulu Advertiser

    OCTOBER 7,.2000 - With the state’s economy improving, the public education system takes top billing on the list of voter concerns in Mililani. more

Primary Election Results
ONTAI VS. NEKOTA, LEE VS. CAINDEC-STEWART, MENOR UNOPPOSED

    SEPTEMBER  24,2000 -  Guy Ontai garnered 70.4% of the primary votes to beat fellow republican David Ellis. Ontai will face democrat Charlotte Nekota in the general. Nekotoa, was unopposed in the primary. more.

MILILANI CANDIDATES HIGH ON EDUCATION
From Honolulu Advertiser

    AUGUST 14, 2000 - It takes state Rep. Marilyn Lee (D-Mililani) a little longer to walk the district these days.
    After four years in the state House of Representatives, Lee said she can’t walk through her district without seeing familiar faces, new friends and people who recognize her. more.

NEWS FROM THE STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - YEAR 2000 REPORT
by Representative Marilyn Lee

    JUNE 2000 - Aloha and may thanks for the honor and privilege of serving you in the Hawaii State House of Representatives. full text of report

REFORMING PUBLIC EDUCTION THROUGH THE HIGH SCHOOL COMPLEX S/C-BM
by James Kuroiwa, Jr.

    JUNE 2000 - "The Department of Education is a large bureaucratic organization that begs for leadership at every administrative level. The "High School Complex" proposal is simple and logical. The process avoids amending the State Constitution, and works within existing Hawaii laws." more.

GOVERNOR CAYETANO APPOINTS MENOR & NEKOTA

    STATE CAPITOL, MAY 2000 - Governor Ben Cayetano announced the appointment of veteran lawmaker, Ron Menor to replace Senator Randy Iwase, who has been appointed to the Labor and Industrial Relations Appeals Board. more.

CHITA CAINDEC-STEWART TO RUN FOR HOUSE SEAT

    MILILANI, MAY 2000 - Chita Caindec Stewart is a candidate for State House of Representative, District 38 - Mililani, Crestview, Waipio. She is a life-long resident of Hawaii, and has lived in Mililani the past 22 years. more.

NOT FOR OUSELVES ALONE - WOMEN'S LEGISLATIVE CAUCUS
Information provied by: Representative Marilyn Lee

    STATE CAPITOL, JANUARY 2000 - The theme of our year 2000 package, "NOT FOR OURSELVES ALONE," is taken from the title of a film documenting the lives of two famous women, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton who were pioneers in the Women's Suffrage Movement. As a result of their efforts the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920, guaranteeing women the right to vote. more

CAYETANO RE-ELECTED

    NOVEMBER 1998 - Governor Benjamin Cayetano was re-elected to another 4-yr term, narrowly beating former Maui Mayor Linda Lingle. Incumbent legislators representing Mililani were also re-elected.
    Randy Iwase beat Roger Ancheta 67%-29% for the 18th Senate district seat. Rep. Marilyn Lee defeated Rodney Botelho 62%-32%. Rep. Ron Menor beat Guy Ontai 59%-38%. Complete Election Results.

MILILANI ONLINE POLL PROVES SURPRISINGLY ACCURATE

    NOVEMBER 1998 - Mililani Interactive's online poll on the governor race was surprisingly accurate. The tracking poll as of the Saturday prior to election day showed Cayetano leading Lingle 50% to 49%. The actual vote tally showed Cayetano winning by a margin of 49.5% to 48.2%.
     "This was just a fluke," said Mililani Interactive spokesperson John Pescador. "Our polls are unscientific - they just sample the views of people visiting our web site. But it's been interesting, During the primary, we had 1,625 participants in our poll. For the general, we started a new tracking poll, & the number of participants nearly doubled to 3,005. As long as there's interest in our online polls, we'll keep running them," . Final Online Poll Results

THE 1998 ELECTION -- LOOKING BACK
by Dwayne Yoshina, State Elections Officer

    STATE CAPITOL - The General Election went significantly smoother than the Primary Election when we introduced the new voting system.
    Once our Election Day Officials became accustomed with the precinct counter machines, the polls opened and closed without the slowdowns that we saw in the Primary Election.
    The few polls that did close late were in the Kapolei and Waikele area that had a rush of voters who arrived near the 6 p.m. closing time.
    As far as voter turnout is concerned, this year's 412,517 ballots cast is the largest turnout of any election. In 1994, voter turnout was at 377,011. In 1996, turnout dropped to 370,230. So, we're very pleased with the increased number of voters this year.
    Throughout the evening, election results from the precincts were coming in smoothly. The only slowdowns we experienced were with the tabulation of the absentee ballots. It seems there was confusion, or people still wanted to mark the absentee mail ballots with pen rather than with the pencil that was enclosed with their ballot. This is something we hope to resolve by the next election.
    Overall, the outcome of the General Election satisfied our goals. The fairness and the integrity of the election was maintained, and that's what we aimed for.

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