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Michelle Kwock is running for public office, but you wouldnt know from talking to her. Sometimes even she forgets.

My chance of winning is extremely slim, she says.

Shes not wrong. Kwocks running as a nonpartisan, meaning shes not affiliated with any political party in Hawaii.

Looking back to 1992, the earliest available data, no independent candidate in Hawaii has won office while running in a partisan race.

I dont have to win, said Kwock, whos a candidate for Senate District 13, covering Chinatown and Pacific Heights. Im throwing out a few ideas out there for consideration.

Shes up against Democratic incumbent Karl Rhoads, whos represented the area as a senator since 2016 and was the House member for the area for a decade beforehand. Matthew Tinay is the Republican in the race and Kapono Souza is on the ballot for the Green Party.

Kwock is one of two nonpartisan candidates who survived Hawais primary and will be on the ballot for the Nov. 8 general election.

The other isBrian Ley, a candidate in House District 4, which covers a chunk of the Big Island including Leilani Estates and Hawaiian Paradise Park.

He has a different goal: Winning, he said.

Leys running against Rep. Greggor Ilagan, the incumbent Democrat who won his seat in 2020, Republican Kekilani Ho and Libertarian Candace Linton.

Its a high hurdle. Nonpartisan candidates run in Hawaiis primaries each election cycle, with varied levels of success. This year, two of the nine hopefuls made it to the general, about the same as 2020 when two out of seven advanced. Actually winning office remains a challenge but however short their time in the limelight, nonpartisan candidates are keen to use it.

In Hawaii, candidates run without party designation for mayor, prosecuting attorney, county councils and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

But in partisan races for governor, lieutenant governor, and the state and federal legislatures candidates dont do well with voters unless theyre affiliated with a party.

This is because Hawaiis election rules say you can only advance to the general election as an independent candidate if you get at least 10% of the total votes, or if you get more votes than the least popular partisan candidate.

Kwock only got 61 votes in the primary, but that was more than the 42 votes received by Green Party candidate Kapono Souza. And Ley only got 45 primary votes, but the Libertarian candidate in his race, Candace Linton, did worse with only 22 votes.

The only reason I made it this far is because of the Green Party, Kwock said.

Now shes headed to the general.

The rules make it hard to advance evenIlagan, the incumbent who Leys challenging, gives Ley big respect for managing to do it.

But Ley wasnt surprised at the result. Linton is his ex-wife, and she ran as a Libertarian, as a favor, to help him advance.

This wasnt Leys first run as a nonpartisan candidate for the district.

Hes a passionate hunter and serves on the Big Islands Game Management Advisory Commission, focusing on issues related to animal habitats and advocating for the use of feral pigs to help stem Hawaiis food insecurity.

Ley explained that hed contacted legislators to express some of these opinions, but was frustrated when he didnt hear back.

And I just said, You know what, if theyre not even going to talk to me, Im just going to run for office, he said.

Most of the time Im in the middle. Brian Ley

His first attempt in 2020 didnt get very far.

Ley mistakenly believed that hed automatically advance to the general, since he was the only nonpartisan candidate in his race, so he told people to feel free to vote for another partys candidates in the primary. He was surprised when his name didnt appear on the general ballot.

I didnt read the fine print on nonpartisan, he said.

Different states take different approaches in handling nonpartisan candidates, and Ley had misunderstood Hawaiis rules.

In Illinois, for example, independent and third party candidates must pass a threshold of petition signatures, which automatically puts them on the ballot for the general. In California and Washington, jungle primaries are used to advance the top two candidates regardless of party.

Despite the challenges nonpartisanship brings, Ley decided to try again in 2022.

He describes his views as sometimes left, sometimes right, though most of the time Im in the middle, he said.

In his view, party politics make it hard to maintain this independent streak. Politicians, he said, are not answering to the people anymore. Theyre answering to the party.

As an example, Ley pointed to Democratic efforts to abolish cash bail, which passed the Legislature earlier this year before being vetoed by Gov. David Ige.

And Republicans?

Theyre the same thing as the Democrats, just the other end of the spectrum, he said.

Kwock, 30, said her motivation was to give voters the option to vote for a younger candidate.

If you look at all the candidates, theyre mostly middle-aged males, she said.

As a younger, female, Asian candidate one who gets around her urban district without a car, opting instead for a folding bike she feels she represents a different demographic than Rhoads, the incumbent.

Rhoads, who also doesnt own a car and has introduced pedestrian-friendly legislation, congratulates Kwock for advancing, and said that hell see her on the campaign trail.

Other than a few years at Boston University, where she studied biology and public health, Kwock has spent most of her life in the district.

She works for the Hawaii Department of Health as a national strategic stockpile planner, andis a strong proponent of car-less alternatives and health.

The victim of 10 bike thefts, by her estimate, Kwock has written guest essays for Civil Beat that argue for better bike parking options, as well as embracing telework as a new normal. One of her biggest priorities as a candidate is advocating for a better long-term care system, where caretakers dont need to be employed 30 hours per week to qualify for state aid.

She doesnt jibe with the Republican party Donald Trumps policies caused too much chaos, she said. Meanwhile, Democrats are always elected in Hawaii, and she wanted to represent something new.

I am pretty sure my chance is really slim. Michelle Kwock

Im not too familiar with any of the other minor parties, so thats why I decided, why not run as a nonpartisan? she said.

Her decision to run was mostly spontaneous, though commenters on her pieces had also encouraged her to run, which helped.

Both candidates declared that theyd collect and spend no more than $1,000 for their campaigns, so theyre exempt from submitting regular finance reports to the Campaign Spending Commission, other than a final report at the end of the election cycle.

Previous election results show that nonpartisans who make it this far typically end up polling no more than 15% in the general.

Leys hoping to overcome these odds, but while Kwock said itd be great if she wins, shes not really considering it a possibility.

She was surprised she made it this far at all. And anyway, if she were to win, she doesnt know what shed do with her job at the health department.

Ill have to think about it, after November, she said. I am pretty sure my chance is really slim.

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It's Tough To Win An Election As An Independent Candidate In Hawaii - Honolulu Civil Beat