LIHU'E, Kaua'i — When voters narrowed down the Kaua'i County Council race to 14 candidates for the seven available seats, they made a powerful statement about the benefits of incumbency.

The top seven spots on the primary election ballot were filled by the six incumbent council members, plus former Councilman Ron Kouchi, who left the panel four years ago to run for mayor after 10 terms on the council. The two candidates with the highest vote counts are both female attorneys: JoAnn Yukimura and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho.

The bottom seven positions belonged to seven candidates who have never held elective office.

Barring a significant campaign event or a dramatic change in turnout, the primary results suggest voters will put most of the same folks back on the County Council who have been there for the past term.

In a period with a strong economy, low unemployment and high property values, Kaua'i voters appear to have gone with the candidates they know best.

The strongest anti-incumbent initiative has involved a slate of three candidates who emphasize tax reform and the current council's refusal to support a voter-backed property tax rollback. But while voters strongly supported the taxation charter amendment in a previous election, they did not give equivalent support to the candidates who tied their campaigns to it. Those candidates placed 10th, 12th and 13th.

Various candidates have talked about traffic problems, supporting agriculture, fighting drugs, improving tourism infrastructure, fixing property taxation and dealing with the county landfill crisis. But there was little consistency in the campaign messages, other than that challengers tended to argue that change is needed.

The challengers are: George Anderson, 66, of Kapa'a Homesteads, a retired builder, hydroponic farmer and septic system installer; Tim Bynum, 52, of Wailua Homesteads, a marriage and family therapist and director of a nonprofit leadership training organization; Bill DeCosta, 41, of 'Oma'o, a high school special education teacher; Ming Fang, 61, of Kilauea, a retired chiropractor; Joseph Kaauwai, 43, of Anahola, a 25-year veteran police officer; Kouchi, 48, of Lihu'e, an insurance salesman and director for public relations for Kaua'i Lagoons; K.C. Lum, 57, of 'Ele'ele, a retired police chief and coffee retailer; and Monroe Richman, 79, of Po'ipu, a retired family practice physician.

Incumbents are: Bill Kaipo Asing, 75, retired telephone company supervisor and 12-term councilman; Jay Furfaro, 57, of Princeville, a resort manager and two-term councilman; Iseri-Carvalho, 42, an attorney and one-term councilwoman; Daryl Kane-shiro, 57, of 'Oma'o, a gasoline retailing account executive, sheep rancher and four-term councilman; Mel Rapozo, 41, of Lihu'e, a private investigator and two-term councilman; and Yukimura, 56, an attorney, Kaua'i mayor from 1988 to 1994, and a six-term council veteran.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.