With tomorrow's deadline for people to officially declare their candidacy, races for dozens of state and county offices will be set. Voters will choose mayors on O'ahu and the Big Island, fill 63 of the 76 seats in the Legislature and pick seven school board members.

Then there's the matter of electing a president.

So with all that at stake, are Hawai'i residents excited about the upcoming races?

"I haven't really had any time to think about it," said Blum, who just graduated from the University of Hawai'i-Manoa with a double major in English and biology and was studying a physics textbook at the Manoa Starbucks last week.

"To be honest, it's kind of hard to find anyone worth voting for," said Blum, a Kane'ohe resident. "Or maybe I just don't know enough to feel good about any of the candidates yet."

Anthony, a masonry laborer and ultimate fighter who lives on Tantalus, knows just what he wants in a candidate. He's just not sure that he can find it.

"It's the walk, not the talk," Anthony said. "You want to see someone step forward who knows how to do things, somebody who has been out in the community doing things, people who know how to get things done."

He doesn't know if any of this year's candidates can meet that standard.

"They all talk good now, but a lot of them don't follow through. I'm not sure I'm going to vote. I don't have any confidence in anybody," Anthony said.

He's not alone. Voter turnout has been steadily declining in Hawai'i, from 83 percent of registered voters in 1984 to 57 percent in 2002.

Baumhofer, a UH graduate student, said it takes someone extraordinary to capture voters' interest.

"Sometimes it seems like the candidates are all kind of the same, so you have to look out for someone who can see beyond the traditional thinking of the tourist economy," she said. "Experience counts, but it's always nice to see a newcomer, too."

Baumhofer, a Native Hawaiian who lives in Halawa, said she'll be looking for candidates this year who are discussing issues that she cares about: the war in Iraq, the nation's economy, gay marriage and women's rights.

"This year I think you'll see more of that on the national level, but it would be nice to see some local candidates pushing those issues, too," she said.

While Iraq, the economy, national and local security, crime and education all are likely to figure in upcoming election debates, Kamiya has one issue on her mind that no one is talking about so far: late-night, all-ages clubs that allow children as young as 13 to stay in a bar-like atmosphere well past midnight.

"It's hard enough being a parent these days without laws that encourage that kind of thing," said Kamiya, a Kalihi resident who works at a traveling fruit and vegetable market.

"There are a lot of issues people are talking about it, but I don't see anyone doing something to protect the children," said Kamiya, whose children are 15 and 19.

Susan McEwin is one person who definitely won't be voting in Hawai'i this year, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have strong opinions.

A Canadian who has summered in Hawai'i for the past 25 years, McEwin thinks Americans are generally naive when it comes to electing their leaders.

"You put your leaders on a pedestal, but then are always disappointed when they let you down," McEwin said.

Still, she thinks Hawai'i residents do a pretty good job of electing leaders.

"You must be doing something right to have a state as good as this," she said. "I'd rather have the politicians here than anywhere else in the country."

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5460.