More than half of the board's 13 elected seats are at stake. Voters yesterday picked the top six candidates who will compete for three O'ahu at-large seats. They also chose the top two candidates for Honolulu, Kaua'i and Big Island seats. There was no primary for a Leeward seat.

The school board campaigns were expected to have a higher profile after education reform became a major issue for Gov. Linda Lingle and the state Legislature last session. Several prominent candidates, including former U.S. congressman Cec Heftel, former state lawmaker Lei Ahu Isa and financier Robert Midkiff, swelled the field for the O'ahu at-large seats to 18 candidates.

With all of the non-electronic ballots counted, Heftel, board member Garrett Toguchi, Ahu Isa, Midkiff, Hawaiian cultural consultant Guy Kaulukukui, and attorney Darwin Ching led for the O'ahu seats. Board member Denise Matsumoto and former board member Keith Sakata led for the Honolulu seat.

On Kaua'i, retired school principal Maggie Cox and former board member Mitsugi Nakashima were leading with most of the ballots counted, while, on the Big Island, board member Herbert Watanabe and retired California teacher Nadia Davies-Quintana were ahead.

The school board primary lacked focus and was all but eclipsed by the Honolulu mayor's race and by a few key fights for seats in the Legislature. Heftel and, in the past week, Ahu Isa, were the only candidates to buy television advertising.

Heftel was by far the top vote-getter in the O'ahu race, but Toguchi and Ahu Isa also put some distance between their rivals, leaving Midkiff, Kaulukukui and Ching significant ground to close to make the top three in November.

"I hope it means that people want change," said Heftel, who did not actively campaign because of a hip injury. "I hope it means that they are responding to my representation that we haven't had adequate concern for our children and our teachers despite all the money that we're spending."

Matsumoto in Honolulu and Watanabe on the Big Island did substantially better than their challengers, putting the incumbents in a strong position for re-election. "People hopefully recognize that the incumbents who are running are doing a good job," said Matsumoto, who asked Heftel to run for an O'ahu at-large seat instead of against her, as he first planned. "I think what they know is that they're happy with the people on the board."

The closest race was on Kaua'i, where Cox and Nakashima previewed what could be the tightest battle in November. O'ahu candidates are selected by all voters on O'ahu and Neighbor Island candidates are chosen by all voters on the Neighbor Islands, a geographic challenge for candidates.

Cox, for example, was leading Nakashima overall and at home on Kaua'i, but trailing him on Maui and the Big Island. "We've got a lot of work to do," Cox said.

Lingle has sought to break up the state Department of Education into seven school districts with elected school boards, but lawmakers have rejected her proposal for the past two sessions.

School board elections are nonpartisan, but Democrats have highlighted the Democrats running for board seats in some campaign material, while Lingle endorsed a slate of five board candidates. Care for Our Kids, which grew out of the governor's education advisory group, produced slate cards that were distributed by Republicans.