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This transferred appeal arises from the Circuit Court of the First Circuit’s order and judgment declaring that Defendant-Appellant Thomas Waters, a/k/a Tommy Waters (Waters) is ineligible to be elected to the office of Councilmember, District IV, City and County of Honolulu for the 2027-2031 term.
EXCERPT from Hawaii Supreme Court:
TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2026 – 2:00 P.M.
TREVOR R. OZAWA, Petitioner/Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. CHADD KADOTA, in his official capacity as Acting City Clerk of the City and County of Honolulu; SCOTT T. NAGO, in his official capacity as Chief Election Officer of the State of Hawai‘i, Respondents/Defendants-Appellees, and THOMAS WATERS a/k/a TOMMY WATERS, Respondent/Defendant-Appellant.
Supreme Court Courtroom
Ali‘iōlani Hale, 2nd Floor
417 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
The oral argument will also be livestreamed for public viewing via the Judiciary’s YouTube channel at YouTube.com/hawaiicourts and ‘Ōlelo at olelo.org/tv-schedule/, subject to ‘Ōlelo’s programming availability.
Attorney for Petitioner/Plaintiff-Appellee TREVOR R. OZAWA:
Trevor R. Ozawa of the Law Office of Trevor R. Ozawa
Attorneys for Respondent/Defendant-Appellee CHADD KADOTA, in his official capacity as Acting City Clerk of the City and County of Honolulu:
Duane W.H. Pang and Jacqueline M. De Leeuw Huang, Deputies Corporation Counsel
Attorneys for Respondent/Defendant-Appellee SCOTT T. NAGO, in his official capacity as Chief Election Officer of the State of Hawai‘i:
Randall S. Nishiyama, Tiffany R. Chang, and Jung Min Lee, Deputy Attorneys General and Aaron H. Schulaner, General Counsel
Attorneys for Respondent/Defendant-Appellant Thomas Waters a/k/a Tommy Waters:
Lex R. Smith, Joseph A. Stewart, Bruce A. Nakamura, and Zachary K. Shikada of Kobayashi Sugita & Goda, LLP
NOTE: Certificate of Recusal, by Associate Justice Todd W. Eddins, filed 08/13/26.
NOTE: Certificate of Recusal, by Chief Justice Vladimir P. Devens, filed 08/13/26.
NOTE: Order assigning Circuit Judge Michael K. Soong, in place of Devens, C.J., recused, Circuit Judge Peter T. Cahill, in place of Eddins, J., recused, and Circuit Judge Peter K. Kubota, due to a vacancy, filed 08/13/26.
NOTE: Order granting Application for Transfer, filed 08/13/26.
COURT: Mckenna, Acting C.J. and Ginoza, J., and Circuit Judge Soong, in place of Devens, C.J., recused, Circuit Judge Cahill, in place of Eddins, J. recused, and Circuit Judge Kubota, assigned by reason of vacancy.
Brief Description:
This transferred appeal arises from the Circuit Court of the First Circuit’s order and judgment declaring that Defendant-Appellant Thomas Waters, a/k/a Tommy Waters (Waters) is ineligible to be elected to the office of Councilmember, District IV, City and County of Honolulu for the 2027-2031 term.
Section 3-102 of the Revised Charter of the City & County of Honolulu (Charter) provides, in relevant part, that: “Except as provided in Section 16-122, the regular terms of office of councilmembers shall be four years beginning at twelve o’clock meridian on the second day of January following their election. . . . No person shall be elected to the office of councilmember for more than two consecutive four-year terms.”
On January 25, 2019, this court invalidated the November 6, 2018 nonpartisan second special election for councilmember for District IV, City and County of Honolulu. It is undisputed that Waters was elected District IV councilmember in a subsequent April 2019 special election and was sworn into office in May 2019. Waters was re-elected in November 2022.
In this case before the circuit court, Plaintiff-Appellee Trevor R. Ozawa sought a declaration that Waters may not be elected as District IV councilmember for the 2027-2031 term under Section 3-102 of the Charter.
The circuit court concluded that Waters is ineligible to be elected as District IV councilmember for the 2027-2031 term.
End of Announcement
ACTING City Clerk Chad Kadota
Tommy Waters as Chair of Honolulu City Council June 3rd, 2026
Another Action involving Chair Tommy Waters:
On August 18, 2026, a handful of District 4 voters have submitted to the Hawaii Supreme a COMPLAINT CONTESTING the Primary Election for their District – – to not remove Tommy Waters from the November 3, 2026 General Elections Ballot.
EXCERPT from By Daryl Huff
Published: Aug. 18, 2026 at 5:09 PM HST HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) –
The complaint says the second error was the clerk telling voters that Waters’ votes were invalid. “By declaring Waters ineligible,” the complaint says, “the Honolulu Elections Division changed the primary election results and disenfranchised voters.
“If he’s ruled eligible, then we should have a new election,” Iwasa said. “Probably even if he’s ruled ineligible, have a new election because there are just so many votes out there, thousands of them, right, who voted with one thing in mind and then learning, oh, that’s not going to work.”
Ozawa said in a statement, “Every step in this process has been public, followed the law, and been decided by a judge, not by any campaign. I trust the Supreme Court to bring this to a fair and final resolution, and in the meantime I’m staying focused on earning the votes of East Honolulu this November.”
Attorney says outcome uncertain
“The only way that they can change who is on the ballot is through an election contest. That has been settled law in Hawaii for over 100 years,” attorney Lance Collins said.
Collins says the challengers may not get the outcome they want, because the court could agree Waters is ineligible and also find that his votes should have been considered blank, which would mean Ozawa won outright with well over 50% of the valid votes.
“There is an outside chance that the Supreme Court could just simply say, Judge Ashford got it right. And as to the election contest, Mr. Ozawa outright won the race,” Collins said.
Asked how she would feel if that happened, Iwasa said, “I would feel, I would be really upset, honestly, with you. Because that, in my opinion, would not be fair at all.”
The court is on a tight deadline and could hear arguments on the appeals and challenges a week from Tuesday.