LANAI CITY - It's no secret in Maui County political campaigns that whoever wins the most votes in the densely populated areas with high voter turnout rates, such as Central Maui, typically takes the prize, The Maui News reported today.

And over recent years, West and South Maui have gained influence as more people become full-time residents and registered voters. So while elections have a residency requirement, every voter will get to decide who sits on the County Council, including the candidate from the small community of Lanai.

Lack of broad name recognition presents a challenge to four of the five Lanai residents on the first special election ballot this Saturday. Lanai has only an estimated 3,200 residents, compared with Maui's 20,000.

Considering the disparity, local political pundits have said the exception in the field is Sol Kaho'ohalahala, who is a former two-term council and state House of Representatives member. Black-and-red signs for Kaho'ohalahala dapple the Valley Isle's front yards and rights of way, far outnumbering those of his opponents.

"Obviously, I've been in public service for several years, so some people still remember who I am," said the 57-year-old Kaho'ohalahala. "But I never want to take for granted anything, especially in running for office."

The Lanai residency seat is open because incumbent Council Chairman Riki Hokama must leave office due to term limits. (Although, Hokama has said he will run again in two years.) In the meantime, Kaho'ohalahala is up against Lanai residents Winifred Basques, Alberta de Jetley, Matthew Mano and John Ornellas.

"The biggest challenge for me is the transportation back and forth to my farm in Lanai," said de Jetley, who is also a community organizer. "I've been spending three to four days on Maui. I go to every event. I can fill out every (candidate) questionnaire. And there's a lot of them."

De Jetley, a former Republican party member, is the Democratic Party's Lanai precinct chairwoman. In 1998, de Jetley defeated Ornellas in a Republican primary for the Lanai council seat, but she lost to Hokama in the general election.

To get out her campaign themes of cooperation and trying to mitigate the local economy's current woes, de Jetley said she has to spend many of her nights staying with relatives in Kahului. Friends also offer the 63-year-old beds in Paia, Kula, Lahaina, Makawao and Kihei. She has raised more than $4,000 to date and will spend most of it on ferry rides and rented cars, she said.

It's a recurring theme among the Lanai candidates.

"I've given an all-out effort to win the seat, and if he (Kaho'ohalahala) wins, he wins," she said. "I have a responsibility to all the people of Maui County. It's not just Lanai. . . . People trust me to do the right thing. I'm not doing it for me. I'm doing it because I feel I can make a difference."

De Jetley said one of her main reasons for running is that many Maui County residents are struggling to put food on the table and pay rent. Something must be done, she said.

"I would have to take my lead from the incumbent candidates," de Jetley said. "I really don't know what fund we would get the money from."

But she said she knows she wants to get people back to work by investing in infrastructure improvements, not just fixing roads and building new reservoirs, but also new parks and repairing existing county facilities.

Kaho'ohalahala is running on a countywide sustainability platform that he said he introduced to no avail when he was on the council in the mid-1990s.

"When I first spoke about sustainability back then, very few even understood the word or concept," Kaho'ohalahala said. "I didn't get a lot of support then. Now, just about every candidate is talking about it."

But it's a very different world today, he said. He wants Maui County to become self-sufficient by developing alternative energy sources, such as solar, wind and biofuel.

He also wants to bolster agriculture to cut the county's dependence on shipping vessels, which bring in 90 percent of the county's food. In the same vein, he wants to address water shortages, in part, by promoting catchment systems and recycling gray water for irrigation.

Still, for all his name recognition and support, Kaho'ohalahala lost some friends when he left the House for a stint as executive director of the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission, Lanai residents said. He now works for Maui Community College to recruit science and technology students.

Some of his opponents also have privately questioned Kaho'ohalahala's residency. For the past few years, he has lived in Lahaina, where his wife is vice principal of Lahainaluna High School. However, no one has filed a formal complaint with the Maui County Clerk's Office challenging the issue.

And Kaho'ohalahala points out that his family goes back seven generations on Lanai. The Lahaina house belongs to his wife, and he maintains his residency at his father's home on the Pineapple Isle, which is just a short ferry ride from Lahaina. He stays in Lahaina to save on travel expenses.

It's all legal and sensible, he said.

Matthew Mano, 55, called the difficulty of campaigning across three islands slow going. But the Maui County wastewater treatment plant worker and Governor's Lanai Advisory Council chairman is pleased to make time for his first bid at elected office.

"Water, TVRs (transient vacation rentals), more land conservation and affordable housing, especially with Lanai; that's what keeps me going," Mano said.

Mayor Charmaine Tavares' administration has cracked down on nonpermitted vacation rentals until new legislation can be hashed out in the County Council with the Planning Department.

Mano, who is backed by the United Public Workers and International Longshore Warehouse Union, explained that Lanai residents need vacation rentals to provide some form of reasonably priced accommodations on the island, 98 percent of which is privately owned by billionaire David Murdoch. The economy is dominated by Murdoch's two exclusive resorts.

Kaho'ohalahala said Murdoch has not made available any new commercial space on Lanai, thus stifling entrepreneurs. He wants the county to change that, he said.

"We know that we also have to convey our message to Maui Nui because Maui is the majority vote," Mano said. "Hopefully, people will appreciate that I am a hard worker, good listener, and I have a vision that would live on beyond 10 years on the council (which is the term limit)," Mano said. "My five kids and 10 grandkids motivate me. For them to have a future, we need to do it now."

Ornellas, who received the Maui Chamber of Commerce endorsement, said it's been difficult to balance his job as a tour guide with the challenges of the campaign trail.

"My name and picture are getting out there," the 57-year-old Ornellas said. "I'm out there, and I'm working hard and doing a lot better than I thought I would when I first started out."

His central issue is getting the economy going by not letting the county government be a hindrance to business. Instead, it should be the pulling guard, he said, making a football analogy.

For instance, for more affordable housing to come on line, it is not acceptable that builders wait six to eight months for a county permit. The county should also cough up some land and partner with developers to jump-start home construction, he said.

"And affordable housing is $250,000, not $400,000," Ornellas said. "On Lanai, the county has 65 acres it could build on. Get it done, whichever way they can, get it done. And it keeps our people working."

Ornellas said he is pro-development, as long as it gets close scrutiny. The economy isn't going to get any better in the next year, so the county should be doing what it can to free up business.

"This is not the time to be banning TVRs," he said. "The tourism economy and occupancy rates are bad enough already."

De Jetley shares a similar view on short-term rentals, at least on Lanai. She said she is in favor of each community deciding for itself what it wants.

Kaho'ohalahala's stance on vacation rentals is more in line with the administration's. He, like Tavares, said he believes the visitor accommodations can damage the character of residential neighborhoods and do not belong in agricultural zones either, if they displace legitimate farming.

And when it comes to affordable housing, he said he doesn't see why the county can't develop its own.

De Jetley said the county should look to Lanai and build towns, not subdivisions. Mix it up a bit more, too, she said, with a wide range of home values in an area that should be adjacent to existing development.

The plantation town, Lanai City, has Dole Park at its center, and then a ring of businesses that surround it, followed then by homes within walking distance of it all.

That should be the inspiration, she said.

The Maui News could not reach Basques for this story.

* Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.