We help the people of Kailua-Kona take political actions that promote inclusion, tolerance, and fairness.
Recap, tragedy, and a call to the streets
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It's been a heavy week and also a hopeful one. On Sunday, over 100 community members showed up to meet the candidates who'll be on your August ballot. Sadly, two more people were killed by ICE agents this week -and this weekend, we're taking that grief to the streets. We’ll join communities across the country honoring Congressman John Lewis. Read on for the full rundown. Table of Contents
🎉 America's 250th Birthday Meet & Greet with the CandidatesOn Sunday, July 12, Kona Indivisible co-hosted a Meet & Greet celebrating America's 250th birthday, in partnership with the Hawai'i County Democratic Party. We had a great turnout. Around 100 people came to hear directly from candidates ahead of the August primary. We heard from candidates for the following offices:
A representative from Jill Tokuda's team shared updates on her behalf. Of her three Democratic primary challengers, only Greg Guithues showed up. He spoke directly to the threat facing our democracy at the federal level, while others on stage avoided discussing the threats and focused on local issues. The band Retroactive, along with Larry and Andrew Dupio, closed out the afternoon with music. Mahalo to everyone who came out. Events like this are how we build the relationships that win elections. We're now sorting through all the photos and video from the day - capturing it all was a big job, so stay tuned for highlights in a future publication. 📢 TAKE ACTION: A couple of dates worth circling for Hawai'i's primary election: ballots go out around July 21, and they must be received - not postmarked - by August 8. Mark your calendar now so you're not scrambling later. 🕯️ Two More Lives Lost to ICEThis has been another brutal week across the country. On July 7, an ICE agent shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston as he drove his construction crew to work. On Monday morning, an ICE officer fatally shot a man in his 20s in Biddeford, Maine. Two killings, six days apart—and by most counts, at least nine people shot dead on the streets by ICE since this administration's deportation crackdown began. We are not going to look away from this. Every one of these deaths is a person - someone's father, someone's son, someone building a life. When federal agents can shoot first and explain later, that's not law enforcement, that's impunity. And the only answer to impunity is people showing up, in numbers, again and again, until it stops. That's exactly what this weekend is for. ✊ Good Trouble Lives On WeekendPop-Up Protest in KonaJoin us for a pop-up protest honoring Congressman John Lewis's legacy and protesting the continued ICE assault on communities across the country. This national, nonpartisan rally also focuses on voting rights, civil rights, and community empowerment - at a moment when we're facing one of the most brazen rollbacks of civil rights in generations. When: Sunday, July 19, 2026, from 4:00-5:00 pm Where: Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway, south of Henry Street, mauka of the Mormon Temple (our usual rally spot) Parking: Please use one of the larger lots on Henry Street. Do not park on the road shoulder on Queen Kaʻahumanu. Kona Indivisible will have several large signs on hand. Bring a hat and water - it may be hot and sunny. 📢 TAKE ACTION: RSVP on Mobilize - it helps us reach everyone if anything changes at the last minute. Also this weekend: a film screening optionIf you want to go deeper before the pop-up, photographer and social justice activist Phil Portlock and his wife Pat Sloan are hosting a virtual screening of their 36-minute documentary, "Voting Rights: The Struggle to Be Counted". It traces the long struggle for the unrestricted right to vote and is introduced by a tribute to Congressman John Lewis. 📺 Friday, July 17, 2026, at 1:30 pm HST (7:30 pm EDT). Join via Zoom. ✉️ Thursday PostcardingCongratulations on getting out 3,000 postcards for Jarrett Keohokalole. I bet you know how to spell his name now! Those cards will help get voters out for our Hawai'i primary election in August, which will likely decide who goes to Washington D.C. to represent Hawaiʻi's Congressional District 1 in the House of Representatives. Now it's time to start thinking about the midterms. With Trump's approval ratings in the basement, his focus on vanity projects instead of the issues facing Americans, and his unauthorized war in Iran, Democrats have a great opportunity to flip the U.S. House and maybe even the Senate. Turnout will be key, and our postcard efforts can help drive it in key districts across the country. We'll be working on a number of different campaigns over the next few months, but we're starting with Alaska. Alaska Get Out the Vote Postcard Campaign: We're writing get-out-the-vote postcards to registered Democrats there, where a U.S. Senate seat is genuinely in play this year. Mary Peltola represented Alaska in the U.S. House from 2022 to 2025, the first Alaska Native and the first woman to hold the seat. She lost re-election in 2024 by only 2.4 percentage points, in a state Trump carried by 13 points - and it's trended further toward Democrats since, with race ratings shifting in her favor. Our postcards will be critical to getting her the turnout she needs to win. 📢 TAKE ACTION: Join us every Thursday at Gypsea Gelato in Kealakekua, 1:30-3:00 pm. Register. Our Thursday participants are a fun, welcoming group, and the time flies by. As always, we'll provide postcards, voter lists, scripts, and instructions. You bring the stamps, your writing muscle, and your favorite pens. We always appreciate a generous donation of postcard stamps or postage money, so that all postcard writers are welcome, including those with less financial capacity. Please help support our host by treating yourself to some delicious gelato while you're there. If you can't make it on Thursdays, or prefer to write postcards at home, you can pick up a packet locally. Get more details on postcarding options here. That's the lineup for this week - grief, grit, and a whole lot of Good Trouble. Whether you write postcards, join a pop-up protest, or just show up for a candidate forum, you're part of how we get through this. See you on the streets. Mahalo,
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Kona Indivisible
We help the people of Kailua-Kona take political actions that promote inclusion, tolerance, and fairness.
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