Charmaine Tavares | |
|---|---|
| 6th Mayor of Maui | |
| In office January 2, 2007 [1] –January 2, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Alan Arakawa |
| Succeeded by | Alan Arakawa |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1943 (age 81–82) Hana,Hawaii,U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Relations | Hannibal Tavares (father) |
| Alma mater | University of Hawaii at Manoa |
| Profession | Teacher,counselor,politician |
Charmaine Tavares (born 1943 Hana,Hawaii) is an American politician and teacher. Tavares served as the Mayor of Maui from January 2007 to January 2011. [1] She unsuccessfully sought a second four-year term in office in the 2010 Maui mayoral election. [1] [2]
Tavares was born in 1943 in Hana,Hawaii,in eastern Maui,to Hannibal and Harriet Tavares. [3] Her father,Hannibal Tavares,served as the mayor of Maui from 1979 until 1991,the longest tenure of any Maui mayor to date. [4] [5] [6] [7] Tavares is the descendant of Japanese and Portuguese immigrants who settled in Hawaii. [7] Her mother,Harriet,is of Japanese descent and her father,Hannibal Tavares,was of Portuguese descent. [7]
She attended both Kaunoa Elementary School and Maul High School,before graduating from St Anthony High School. [3] Tavares earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1967. [1] She also received a fifth-year professional diploma in education from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1970. [1]
Tavares worked in Hawaiian public schools as a teacher,counselor and athletic director from 1967 to 1982. [1] [3] She was the program director of the Maui Community College (MCC) Upward Bound program from 1983 to 1989. [1] [3]
Tavares served as the director of the Department of Parks and Recreation for Maui County from 1989 to 1995. [1] [3]
Tavares was first elected to the Maui County Council in 1996. She served on the Council,representing the Upcountry Seat,from 1997 until 2006. [1] She was elected to the Maui County Council in five separate elections. [1]
Tavares was elected mayor of Maui in the 2006 election. She defeated incumbent Mayor Alan Arakawa and was sworn into office on January 2,2007. [1]
Tavares ran for reelection to a second four-year term in 2010. [1] The primary election was held on September 18. Tavares narrowly won,taking 7,307 votes,or 25.4% of the total. [8] She defeated her nearest opponent,former Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa,by 268 votes. [8] Tavares and Arakawa automatically advanced to the general election as the two top vote-getters in the primary. [8] Electric contractor Randy Piltz placed fourth with 5,602 votes (19.4%);Chris Hart placed fifth with 3,035 (10.5%);Maui Council member Sol Kaho'ohalahala came in sixth place with 2,912 votes (10.1%);businessman Marc Hodges placed seventh with 1,761 votes (6.1%). [8] Five other candidates earned a combined 1.5% of the vote. [8]
Tavares won 11 of Maui's 39 election precincts in the 2010 primary. [8] Most of these precincts were in Central Maui. [8] Former Mayor Alan Arakawa won 23 precincts in South Maui and West Maui. [8]
Tavares faced Arakawa in the general election on November 2,2010. [8] The election was a rematch of the 2006 Maui mayoral election,in which Tavares defeated Arakawa. [8] [9] [10] Tavares did not fare as well in the rematch,becoming one of the only Democrats in Hawaii to lose reelection to a Republican. [2]