Overview
- Primary results Sunday confirmed incumbent Gov. Josh Green as the Democratic nominee and contractor Gary Cordery as the Republican nominee for the November 3 general election.
- Green won the Democratic primary by a landslide with roughly 162,951 votes, about 89% of the Democratic tally, while Cordery captured the GOP nod with about 27,736 votes, roughly 74% of the Republican total.
- Cordery is campaigning on a housing-focused affordability plan that calls for 15,000 fee-simple homes priced around $400,000 to $600,000 using state land, faster permitting, and tax relief for food and medicine.
- Green holds a decisive financial advantage with around $3.5 million raised compared with Cordery’s roughly $313,000 according to local reporting, a gap analysts say will limit Cordery’s reach this fall.
- Analysts rate the contest as Solid Democratic and point to Hawaii’s D+13 partisan lean and the fact the state has not elected a Republican governor since 2010 as key structural hurdles for the GOP ticket that will include Derek Kawakami and Daniel Anthony as lieutenant governor nominees.