HONOLULU- Kirk Caldwell, who has served as the managing director and interim Mayor of Honolulu, announced his candidacy for mayor Thursday morning at the Middle Street Transit Center.
Caldwell will face current Mayor Peter Carlisle, who won a special election in 2010 to fill the remainder of former Mayor Mufi Hannemann's term. Hannemann resigned from office to run for governor, but was ultimately defeated by Neil Abercrombie in the Democratic primary.
During his announcement Caldwell said that unlike Carlisle, he would not automatically move forward on the city's $5.3 billion rail project if the city did not receive an expected $1.55 billion in federal subsidies.
While he remains a staunch supporter of the planned 20-mile transit project from East Kapolei to Ala Moana, Caldwell said he would take pause if a substantial amount of the expected federal funds did not come through.
Still to be seen is whether former Governor Ben Cayetano will enter the mayoral race. Cayetano has indicated he may run as an anti-rail candidate in sharp contrast to both Caldwell and Carlisle. Cayetano is among a group of plaintiffs currently suing the city in federal court over the rail project. The plaintiffs contend the city failed to adequately study alternatives to rail as mandated under federal law.
In the September, 2010 special election for mayor Carlisle beat Caldwell by 4.2 percent, or 8,738 votes.
We'll have more on Caldwell's announcement, and the political implications tonight on the KHON2 News at 5, 6, and 10.
