Pro-GMO Candidates Do Well in Hawaii, Issue Still Unsettled

Two noted opponents of a Kauai County, Hawaii GMO disclosure bill are more popular than ever, the Honolulu Civil Beat reports.

Political reporter Nathan Eagle writes that the recent anti-GMO surge in Hawaii has hurt neither Kauai County Councilmen Mel Rapozo nor Ross Kagawa, who won the largest and second-largest number of votes respectively in a recent primary for election to the seven-member council. Neither had done so well before.

Third-place finisher and first-time candidate Arryl Kaneshiro finished third.  The Kauai law passed last year requires that farms to disclose the pesticides they spray, create buffer zones and say which GMO crops they grow and where.

The isuue’s not likely settled, even so: We might be witnessing the beginnings of a leftward movement in the Democratic Party here,” Hawaii Pacific University communication professor John Hart said Monday. “Their short-term goal was not a success, but it has put people on notice that they can field candidates and get some votes,” he said.

Maui voters will decide Nov. 4 if the county should place a temporary moratorium on genetically modified agriculture until “proven safe.”

www.civilbeat.com/2014/08/is-kauai-pro-gmo-primary-election-results-suggest-so