PAHOA, Hawaii – Five candidates for Hawaii County mayor participated in a two and a half hour political forum at the Pahoa Community Center on July 16.

A Democratic Party panel questioned Pete Hoffmann, Wendell Ka’ehuae’a, Harry Kim, Wally Lau, and Shannon McCandless on their vision for the office, and asked about their position on a wide-range of topics important to voters in Puna and the rest of Hawaii Island.