About

Amy Petterson is a fifth-generation descendant born and raised in the heart of the Maui Nui community. Surrounded by the wonders unique to Maui and its people, she grew up with a sense of pride and love for her home and its vast culture and history. A home that has survived devastation, and still stands to survive much more. For Petterson, the position of mayor is not a career, it’s not a bragging right, nor a paycheck. It’s a chance to help our community. She is your everyday neighbor, friend, and daughter; intent on changing our county for the better.

Like many local residents, Petterson grew up in poverty surrounded by affluence. She graduated from King Kekaulike High School in 2020 in the midst of a global pandemic whose tail-end coincided with what would, postmortem, be considered the worst natural disaster to strike Hawai’i. The Kula-Lahaina fires ravaged Maui, forcing Petterson and her family along with thousands of others to evacuate. While her home survived, she would, through her work with the fire cleanup, become intimately familiar with the countless homes, businesses, and landmarks of their history that didn’t.

Petterson worked tirelessly alongside her community for close to a year in the burn zone. She was part of the initial Lahaina cleanup as a scale-house technician, and followed through all the way until the last of Lahaina was transported away to the final landfill. Witnessing the direct aftermath left an impact on Petterson and she became increasingly invested in the politics that determine the lives she and her community lives. Between higher rent-prices, a lack of housing despite the numerous empty vacation-homes, and a dire water-crisis, Maui is not without its challenges. But Petterson, between her research, part-time job and studies, realizes that these are challenges that can be beaten.

She knows there’s a need for self-sustainability, that it’s not just a matter of rebuilding but also ensuring that the last decade of disasters can never occur again. Our policies must be stricter on the ultra-wealthy, must be more protective of our fragile environment, and must be a proactive leadership that takes proper accountability for the lives, culture, and history they’re in charge of maintaining.

Petterson is not a career politician, nor is she an entrepreneur. She is a child of the Maui Nui community, full of love and pride for her home and driven to ensure a stable and prosperous future for both her own generation and the future ones to come. A candidate intent on returning the focus to where it should be; on Maui, her people, and our community. Protecting them from exploitation and careless policy. Petterson is someone who will be there to see how her policy stands up, and to take accountability should that policy need amendment.

She is a dedicated and passionate individual who believes strongly in supporting and uplifting the people. Not AI taking over jobs, not large-scale companies, and most certainly not organizations such as AIPAC or ICE.