Bryan Baptiste

Who was Bryan Baptiste?

Bryan J. Baptiste was an American politician and member of the Republican Party. He served as mayor of the County of Kauai in Hawaii from 2002 until his death.

Baptiste was born in Lihue, Kauai. Baptiste was a descendant of Portuguese immigrants who settled in Hawaii.

In 1996, Baptiste, then Baptiste, manager of the Kaua'i War Memorial Convention Hall and head of an islandwide park beautification program was elected to the Kaua'i County Council. Baptiste served as a member of the council for six years before running for mayor to succeed Republican Maryanne Kusaka, who was ineligible to run again due to term limits. In the 2002 mayoral election Baptiste faced two fellow councilmen, Democrats Ron Kouchi and Randal Valenciano. In the September primary election Baptiste received 38% of the vote, Kouchi received 35%, and Valenciano won 21%, allowing Baptiste and Kouchi to advance to the runoff. In the runoff Baptiste defeated Kouchi, winning 12,174 votes to Kouchi's 10,517.

In 2006, Baptiste avoided a runoff by two votes, joking, "We had one vote more than we needed to win. That's the cushion."