The new constitution also called for an election to be held ninety days after its enactment on September 12, 1887. Nāwahī remained an independent against the newly empowered Reform Party even though many of its members were his former allies against the National Party in years before. In the special election of 1887, he and George Charles Moʻoheau Beckley ran under the opposition ticket against Reform Party members Henry Deacon and D. Kamai but lost due to the disenfranchisement of much of the native constituencies. Deacon and Kamai would represent Hilo in the special legislative session of 1887 and the regular session of 1888.