HILO, Hawai'i — Billy Kenoi was elected one of the youngest mayors in Big Island history, easily besting decorated Vietnam war veteran and community activist Angel Pilago in early election returns last night.

Kenoi, a 39-year-old former executive assistant to Big Island Mayor Harry Kim, was by far the highest vote getter in the primary, garnering more than 46 percent of the votes in a crowded primary field of eight candidates.

Kenoi is a high-energy campaigner, and he improved significantly on that lead in the six weeks between the primary and general.

Kenoi was the better financed candidate, and has longstanding ties to Democratic Party leaders such as U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye. He also enjoyed support from business groups such as the Hawai'i Island Chamber of Commerce and assorted construction trades and government worker unions.

In another issue on the Big Island ballot, voters approved an initiative that instructs county police to make small marijuana busts their lowest law enforcement priority.

In the mayoral race, the 63-year-old Pilago is a favorite of Big Island environmentalists in part because of his many years as a community activist, but his campaign for mayor may have been a victim of bad timing.

He was elected to two terms on the council when the Big Island economy was booming, and people in his North Kona district were angry at traffic congestion and other growing pains that worsened amid rapid development.

ECONOMY AIDED KENOI

For most of the mayoral campaign Pilago stressed his independence from developers, and criticized the status quo and "old boy politics" that many Kona residents blamed for the rapid growth that clogged West Hawai'i roads. He also opposed plans to build a $1 billion Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea because he said it wasn't clear yet how the community would benefit from the project.

Meanwhile the real estate industry was weakening across the Big Island, West Hawai'i hotels were laying off workers, construction was in a decline, and tourist arrivals were down.

All of that stirred widespread concern about the economy, which almost certainly benefited Kenoi. Business leaders tended to be leery of Pilago's rhetoric, which suggested he would be less likely than Kenoi to support proposals for new development, growth in the tourism industry or increased military spending.

On the tactical level, Pilago also apparently failed to win over voters who supported state Sen. Lorraine Inouye, the third-highest vote getter in the mayoral primary. Inouye captured about 20 percent of the vote in September, and Pilago needed to win over all of those voters and then some to best Kenoi in the general election.

Instead, poll results last night suggested the majority of Inouye's support shifted to Kenoi.

Kenoi, a former Honolulu deputy public defender, is making his first run for public office, and stressed a feel-good "Together We Can" theme in his campaign. He also probably benefited from a late endorsement from his popular former boss, Kim.

The centerpiece of Kenoi's campaign has been creating a comprehensive Big Island bus mass-transit system, which Kenoi says can be done for $25 million. If he fails to create the system after he is elected, Kenoi has promised not to seek re-election.

On the Big Island marijuana initiative, voters approved a measure instructing police to make busts of adult, small-time marijuana users on private property the county's lowest policing priority.

The measure was opposed by police and prosecutors, and county Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida argued there may be legal problems with the measure, but proponents argued it would free up police resources for more important law enforcement responsibilities.

One supporter was Hilo resident Euclid LoGiudice, 52, who said he voted for the marijuana proposal because he saw the medical benefits of marijuana when his mother was dying of cancer, and said he is tired of the ban on the weed.

"I think it should be legal. The laws against marijuana are ridiculous, and it costs the government a lot of money, the taxpayers a lot of money, and you end up with non-violent criminals taking up space (in jail) that should be for violent criminals," he said.

Some Big Island residents have long opposed marijuana eradication because of concerns about helicopter noise, and because they consider the aerial operations above their homes an intrusion on civil liberties.

On the Big Island County Council, Councilmember Emily Naeole defeated former Councilman Gary Safarik, winning another two-year term representing Lower Puna. Safarik, a loan officer and former councilman, was bounced from office by Naeole in the 2006 election.

Dennis Onishi, program director for the county's elderly recreation services, easily won the race to represent the council district that includes Keaukaha in Hilo, while retired farmer Kelly Greenwell defeated Debbie Hecht by a smaller margin for the North Kona seat.