Four other OHA trustees, running for re-election, were victorious: Maui trustee Boyd Mossman and at-large trustees Rowena Akana, John Waihe'e IV and Oswald Stender.

Entertainer and kumu hula Manu Boyd, OHA's public information director, was at fourth place in the "at-large" race in which voters could pick up to three of 14 candidates.

Heen, 78, credited name recognition for part of his success. A former state senator and Honolulu councilman, he shifted career paths in 1972 and became a Honolulu district judge.

He later was a state circuit judge, U.S. attorney, U.S. district judge and state appellate judge. He also was one of the authors of the 1997 "Broken Trust" essay that played a key role in an overhaul of the Bishop Estate, the state's largest trust and private landowner.

Heen said he wanted to re-enter elective politics now because he believes it is a pivotal time for OHA. He said it is on the forefront of establishing a new "nation-within-a-nation" government model.

Carpenter, 71, a former state senator and Big Island mayor who has been in elective politics since 1969, has been an OHA trustee since 2002. He has headed OHA's Assets and Resource Management Committee, overseeing the state agency's finances, since 2004.

"No matter what happens, I feel good about what we've done over the last four years," Carpenter said. "OHA's probably been in the best fiscal shape it's ever been in its history."

All registered Hawai'i voters could vote in all five races, regardless of their residency and ethnic background.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Rice v. Cayetano six years ago opened OHA elections to all voters.

Previously, only Hawaiian voters were eligible.