The slightly more conventional political candidate, Duke Aona, beat Penn with 51 percent of the vote, while Penn managed a respectable 25 percent. There are still some precincts to be reported, but given Aiona’s 31,000 vote lead to Penn’s 15,000 votes, it doesn’t change the outcome of this race. UNLESS you happen to be a true believer like ‘The Prodigy’. In a since-deleted Instagram Story, he (or someone on his team) stated: “It’s not over. We do not concede.” It is unclear whether his campaign plans to formally challenge the results. Throughout the day, Penn had posted several stories suggesting voter fraud was going on, with some of his followers claiming people were being forced to sign affidavits to vote or being turned away altogether. This follows months of posts by Penn talking about voter fraud. Penn’s campaign has been a roller coaster ride of quirky campaign videos and social media posts. Friend of the site Borrachinha Depot has meticulously archived it all on Twitter, including this endorsement from Nate Diaz. Penn had a rough time leading up to this election campaign. In 2019, the mother of his child was granted a restraining order and accused him of physical and sexual abuse. Video of the former UFC champion being knocked out in a street fight also surfaced that year. In 2020, he turned his car over and was arrested on suspicion of DUI. In 2021, he earned a second suspicion of DUI arrest, with a video of him screaming obscenities at police and onlookers. None of this seemed to affect the willingness of his loyal fans in Hawaii to vote for him: We’ll keep you posted on whether Penn actually concedes the election and what’s next now that this political chapter in his life is seemingly over.
