HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green said Saturday that he will be the Democratic reserve to become the state’s next governor after a heated race between U.S. Rep. Kaiali’i Kahele and former Hawaii first lady Vicky Cayetano. I won the election.
For the past four years, Mr. Green has served as vice president of the state, second only to Hawaii Governor David Ige. Ige has already served two terms and is ineligible for re-election.
The winner of the Democratic primary is endorsed to win the general election of a liberal nation.
Former Lieutenant Governor James R. Iona won the Republican gubernatorial primary, defeating mixed martial arts champion BJ Penn and Honolulu City Councilman Heidi Tsuneyoshi.
Iona served as Lieutenant Governor in the administration of former Governor Linda Ringle from 2002 to 2010. He unsuccessfully ran for governor twelve years before him.
Many voters said the high cost of housing in Hawaii was their biggest problem. I was.
To address the housing shortage, Mr. Green said he would issue executive orders to eliminate red tape, simplify construction approvals and enforce existing laws to close illegal vacation rentals.
Iona said he would abolish the state’s land use commission, which he accused of slowing housing development.
Oahu construction worker Herbert Rowland said he likes Green’s plans to address Hawaii’s housing and homelessness problems.
“I’m from this island and I’ve been here forever. I don’t want my kids to move off this island because it’s too expensive and I can’t find a home,” Rowland said recently while holding a Green Campaign sign in Honolulu. , he waved at a passing car.
Prior to serving as Lieutenant Governor, Green was a state senator and representative. Before he entered politics, Big He was a doctor in rural Island. He has continued to work part-time as a physician and as a lieutenant governor while in the state legislature.
Green won a following during the COVID-19 pandemic with his account of infection rates and trends and the capacity of hospitals to treat them.
The state’s largest unions, including the Hawaii Government Employees Association and the Hawaii Teachers Association, endorsed his candidacy in the primary.
The race heated up when Kahele and Cayetano questioned the income Green received during his time as lieutenant governor from a limited liability company called Green Health International LLC. Greene, who has had a side job in medicine, said the money was for the work he did as a doctor.
Kahele has made headlines this year for his side hustle as a pilot for Hawaiian Airlines and his extensive use of proxy voting in Congress. Like everyone who cast proxy votes, he submitted the necessary letter proving he was “physically unable to vote” in the Capitol. He cited an “ongoing public health emergency.”
Green was born in Kingston, New York and raised in Pittsburgh. He moved to Hawaii in 2000 with the National Health Service.
Kahele’s decision to run for governor opened up his seat to represent rural Oahu and the Neighbor Islands.
Former State Senator Jill Tokuda defeated State Representative Patrick Pihana Blanco for the Democratic nomination for Hawaii’s second congressional district.
Among Republicans, ex-U.S. Air Force intelligence analyst and businessman Joe Acana defeated business owner Joseph Webster.
Since Hawaii is a vote-by-mail state, voters have been mailing ballots and dropping them in drop-boxes throughout the island since late last month. Elections officials in each county have made several voter service centers available for people to register to vote last minute or to vote in person.
In the 1st congressional district, incumbent US Congressman Ed Case defeated lawyer and political novice Sergio Alcubilja in the Democratic primary. Conrad Kress, Patrick Large and Arturo Reyes are vying for Republican support.
In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Senator Brian Schatz defeated the Democratic Party’s first challenger, dispute resolution consultant Steve Tatai. Tataiyi ran for Congress in 2016 but was unsuccessful.
In the Republican primary for the US Senate, Rep. Bob McDermott defeated five other candidates.
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