HILO, Hawai'i — In the Big Island race for mayor, first-time candidate Billy Kenoi took a commanding lead over seven rivals including former state Sen. Lorraine Inouye, and appeared to be headed for a runoff in the general election with County Councilman Angel Pilago.

Any candidate who gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the nonpartisan primary is elected outright, but Kenoi was running shy of that mark. If no one wins more than half, the top two vote-getters will face a runoff election on Nov. 4.

Kenoi said his campaign calculated that for a first-time candidate such as Kenoi running against a well-known candidate such as Inouye, "it would be very, very challenging" to lock up the election in the primary.

"We held it out there as a distant goal, but a lot of things have to go right to achieve an outright victory in the primary."

Pilago appeared to be on track to top Inouye for second place, and said he was looking forward to a general election campaign with Kenoi. He said he plans to mobilize a "knowledgeable, informed voter base that wants to see a different type of results."

Elsewhere on the Big Island, physician Josh Green was coasting to what appeared to be an easy victory in the state Senate district that includes Kona and Kohala, and early returns suggested County Councilman Bob Jacobson might lose the Ka'u seat he has held for six years.

Kenoi, a former executive assistant to Big Island Mayor Harry Kim, was the best financed mayoral candidate, raising $304,000 and spending almost $286,000 by Sept. 5.

Inouye, who served as mayor from 1990 to 1992, raised about $250,000 for the race as of Sept. 5. Pilago raised about $62,000.

AN EXPERIENCED HAND

Inouye, 68, is familiar to voters after serving 10 years in the state Senate, and serving on the Big Island County Council from 1984 to 1990. She also filled out a partial term as mayor from 1990 to 1992 after Bernard Akana died in office, but failed to win re-election in 1992, and lost another campaign for mayor in 1996.

Inouye has stressed her years of experience, and emphasized transportation and economic issues in the campaign. She is proposing that an Economic Revitalization Task Force be called together from the public and private sectors to improve conditions for businesses and agriculture, and she pledged to streamline the county permitting process.

Despite Inouye's campaign pitch, Hawai'i Island Chamber of Commerce members voted to endorse Kenoi along with the major public worker unions, the ILWU and a number of the construction trades unions.

Kenoi, 39, had a high-profile role in Kim's so-called "War on Ice," or methamphetamine, an effort that beefed up both enforcement and treatment programs on the Big Island.

The centerpiece of Kenoi's campaign is creating a comprehensive bus mass-transit system, which Kenoi says can be done for $25 million.

The environmental community on the Big Island seemed solidly supportive of two-term North Kona councilman Pilago, who is well-known for his role in the fight against a coastal development at Kohanaiki that led to the 1995 Public Access Shoreline Hawai'i, or PASH court decision. That decision affirmed Native Hawaiian gathering and cultural rights on private property.

Kenoi was painted by critics as too pro-development, mostly because of the support he received from developers who made campaign contributions, and from the construction unions.

But Hilo resident Darlene O'Brien, 33, was more worried about the economy, and selected Kenoi because of his experience during Kim's administration.

The state is sinking into a recession and "I'm just voting for the person I think can get Hilo through, and get the Big Island through that," she said.

CHOICES BECAME ISSUE

Others were displeased with the choices, especially after a bruising mayoral campaign tarnished some candidates' image.

Allegations surfaced that Kenoi was involved in a barroom scuffle in 2004, and also that actions by Council member Stacy Higa prompted a judgment against the county in a sexual harassment case. Both mayoral candidates denied any wrongdoing.

"They're all junk," said Al Miller, 63, as he departed from his polling place at Kaumana School yesterday morning.

Special education teacher Susy Rivera, 47, said she was also unhappy with some of what she was reading about the candidates. She finally selected Lorraine Inouye.

"She didn't do evil things when she was in office before" in the early 1990s, Rivera said.

In Kona, Greens seemed to be easily overwhelming Virginia Isbell to take control of the District 3 Senate seat held by Republican Paul Whalen. Whalen did not seek re-election and no other Republican filed to run in the district, which means the race will be decided in the primary.

On the council, Jacobson's district that includes Ka'u, South Kona and parts of Puna split over a proposal for a massive development at Sea Mountain in Punalu'u.

Guy Enriques helped form a group that wanted to negotiate with the developer for various community benefits, but the project stalled after facing strong opposition from Jacobson and his supporters, leaving a divided community.

Some residents want to preserve rural Ka'u as it is, while others were willing to consider development to create jobs closer to home. That split appeared to be hurting Jacobson, who was trailing Enriques in early returns.

In Lower Puna, Council member Emily Naeole advanced to a general election runoff with former Councilman Gary Safarik.

In Keaukaha, Dennis Onishi is headed for a runoff with Andy Baclig after Onishi, a program director for the county Parks Department.