Kirk Caldwell

Kirk Caldwell

Prior offices

Hawaii House of Representatives District 24

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Mayor of Honolulu

Successor: Rick Blangiardi

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Report an officeholder change

Education

Bachelor's

Tufts University, 1971

Law

William S. Richardson School of Law

Personal

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Campaign website

Personal Twitter

Personal LinkedIn

Kirk Caldwell was the Mayor of Honolulu in Hawaii. He assumed office in 2013. He left office on January 2, 2021.

Caldwell (Democratic Party) ran for election for Governor of Hawaii. He did not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary on August 13, 2022.

Caldwell briefly held the position of interim mayor in 2010, when former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann vacated the seat to run for governor of Hawaii. Caldwell ran for mayor in 2010 but lost to Peter Carlisle. Carlisle served the remainder of Hannemann's term from 2010 to 2013. He lost to Caldwell and former Hawaii Governor Ben Cayetano in the 2012 primary election.

Before becoming mayor, Caldwell was a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, representing District 24 from 2002 to 2008. From 2006 to 2008, he was Majority Leader. In January 2009, Caldwell was appointed the managing director for the City and County of Honolulu.

Biography

Caldwell was born on September 4, 1952. He obtained a B.A. in economics from Tufts University and a J.D. from the William S. Richardson School of Law. His professional experience includes working for the law practice of Ashford and Wriston, LLP, in the office of U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye and as a clerk for former Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court Williams Richardson.

Career

Below is a brief outline of Caldwell's political career.

• 2013-Present: Mayor of Honolulu
• 2010: Interim Mayor of Honolulu
  • Candidate for Mayor of Honolulu
• 2009: Managing Director for the City and County of Honolulu
• 2006-2008: Hawaii House of Representatives, Majority Leader
• 2002-2008: Hawaii House of Representatives, District 24

Presidential preference

2016 presidential endorsement

✓ Caldwell endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic primary in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

See also: Endorsements for Hillary Clinton

Elections

2022

See also: Hawaii gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Governor of Hawaii

Joshua Green defeated Duke Aiona in the general election for Governor of Hawaii on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joshua Green (D)	63.2	261,025
		Duke Aiona (R)	36.8	152,237

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 413,262
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Hawaii

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Hawaii on August 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joshua Green	62.9	158,161
		Vicky Cayetano	20.9	52,447
		Kaiali'i Kahele	15.0	37,738
	Submit photo	Van Tanabe	0.5	1,236
		Richard Kim	0.4	991
	Submit photo	David Bourgoin	0.2	590
		Clyde McClain Lewman	0.1	249

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 251,412
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Kirk Caldwell (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Hawaii

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Hawaii on August 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Duke Aiona	49.6	37,608
		BJ Penn	26.1	19,817
		Gary Cordery	10.9	8,258
		Heidi Tsuneyoshi	9.6	7,255
		Lynn Barry Mariano	1.2	903
		Paul Morgan	1.0	796
		Keline-Kameyo Kahau	0.6	469
	Submit photo	Walter Woods	0.6	438
	Submit photo	Moses Paskowitz	0.2	189
	Submit photo	George Hawat	0.2	140

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 75,873
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Governor of Hawaii

No candidate advanced from the primary.

		Candidate	%	Votes
	Submit photo	Keleionalani Taylor	61.9	755
	Submit photo	Caleb Nazara	38.1	464

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Vote totals may be incomplete for this race.
	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,219
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Gene Tamashiro (L)
• Frank Hinshaw (L)

2020

See also: Mayoral election in Honolulu, Hawaii (2020)

Mayor Caldwell was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.

2016

See also: Municipal elections in Honolulu, Hawaii (2016)

The city of Honolulu, Hawaii, held elections for mayor and city council on November 8, 2016. A primary election took place on August 13, 2016. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was June 7, 2016. Five of the nine city council seats were up for election. Incumbent Kirk Caldwell defeated Charles Djou in the Mayor of Honolulu general election.

Mayor of Honolulu, General Election, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Kirk Caldwell Incumbent	52.16%	147,941
Charles Djou	47.84%	135,710
Total Votes		283,651
Source: State of Hawaii Office of Elections, "General Election Official Results 2016", accessed November 28, 2016

Mayor of Honolulu, Primary Election, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Kirk Caldwell Incumbent	44.61%	74,062
Charles Djou	43.69%	72,532
Peter Carlisle	9.36%	15,539
Lillian Lai Lam Wang Hong	0.69%	1,140
Ernest Caravalho	0.47%	781
Ronald Hochuli	0.38%	635
Kurt Baker	0.22%	360
Lawrence Friedman	0.21%	346
Mike Powers	0.19%	317
Tim Garry	0.13%	210
Zachary Burd	0.06%	97
Total Votes		166,019
Source: Hawaii.gov, "Primary Election Official Results," accessed November 28, 2016

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Kirk Caldwell did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Noteworthy events

Events and activity following the death of George Floyd

See also: Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020

Caldwell was mayor of Honolulu during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in Honolulu, Hawaii, began on Friday, May 29, 2020, at the Hawaii State Capitol. No curfews were issued. The national guard was not deployed.

To read more about the death of George Floyd and subsequent events, click [show] to the right.

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officers arrested Floyd, a Black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a White officer, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs. Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident. The medical examiner's report, prepared by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, said that it was "not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process." On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in relation to Floyd's death. Floyd's death was filmed and shared widely, leading to activity regarding racism, civil rights, and police use of force. The first events took place in Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 26. An event in Chicago organized by Chance the Rapper and Rev. Michael Pfleger took place the same day, making it the first major city outside of Minneapolis to host an event in response to Floyd's death.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Caldwell and his wife, Donna Tanoue, have a daughter, Maya. They live in Manoa, Hawaii.

See also

2022 Elections

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Government

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Candidate

Governor of Hawaii

Website

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Peter Carlisle	Mayor of Honolulu 2013–2021	Succeeded by Rick Blangiardi