Despite the attention and controversy generated by anti-GMO (genetically modified organisms) activists in the months leading up to the August primary, their candidates gained little traction in the recent primary election. Both locally and statewide, most who opposed GMOs went down to defeat in partisan races or trailed by a wide margin in non-partisan races.
In Maui County’s nonpartisan races, pro-GMO Mayor Alan Arakawa had an easy victory with 63.8 percent of the vote. Tamara Paltin, whose platform included several anti-GMO positions, trailed behind with 11.9 percent. The two will face each other in the general election.
But perhaps the biggest unknown in the upcoming 2014 General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 4, is the impact of Maui’s proposed GMO moratorium, which received enough signatures from registered voters to qualify for the ballot. In all, more than 9,000 qualified signatures were collected. Should those who favor a GMO moratorium turn out in large numbers and vote as a block the November, results on Maui could be very different than they looked in the primary.
In the primary, Maui County had the lowest voter turnout in the state with only 27,537 voters casting ballots out of a total county-wide registration of 85,581 (32.2 percent).
Read the full, original article: Many anti-GMO candidates defeated in the primary
