The Hawai'i Supreme Court yesterday declared that Kaua'i Mayor Bryan Baptiste won re-election in last month's primary election, ending challenges by two opponents who had asked for a recount.

Kaua'i election rules state that the mayoral race can be wrapped up in the primary if a candidate wins at least 50 percent of the vote.

Baptiste was clearly the top vote-getter in the Sept. 23 primary, but it was a close call as to whether he had gotten more than half the votes, and there were questions about which votes should be counted toward the purpose of declaring an outright winner.

Three days after the primary, Kaua'i County Clerk Peter Nakamura declared that Baptiste had received one more vote than necessary to win re-election.

John Hoff, who placed third in the primary, and Janee Marie Taylor, who placed fifth, filed challenges with the Hawai'i Supreme Court, claiming election irregularities and other problems with the way the vote-counting was handled.

The court upheld Nakamura's decision and ruled there was no proof of any problems or that any possible problems would have changed the results.

Baptiste said he was pleased with the ruling and is looking forward to serving Kaua'i residents for a second term.