Hawaii GOP gubernatorial candidates debate ahead of primary election

Three of Hawaii’s top Republican gubernatorial candidates faced off Tuesday evening in a live debate in which they mostly fell along political party lines on national issues, including abortion and gun rights, and often had overlapping ideas about local issues such as affordable housing and the Thirty Meter Telescope.

In the hour-long, KITV4-hosted debate, Honolulu City Councilmember Heidi Tsuneyoshi, former Lieutenant Gov. and Circuit Court judge James “Duke” Aiona, and business owner Gary Cordery faced-off ahead of the August primary election for governor.

Candidate B.J. Penn was invited, but KITV said he did not appear because of a scheduling conflict.

When asked about abortion, which last month was overturned as a constitutional right by the U.S. Supreme Court, all three candidates expressed an anti-abortion agenda, although did so with varying levels of conviction.

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The strongest anti-abortion stance came from Cordery, owner of Kingdom Builders in Hawaii, who said abstinence should be taught in schools and that there should be more avenues for adoption.

“If legislation came to my desk as governor to overturn abortion in Hawaii, I would sign it,” Cordery said. “This is not man’s role to choose life.”

Tsuneyoshi, whose district in the City Council ranges from Mililani to Kahuku and Mokuleia to Kahaluu, and Aiona, who served as the state’s lieutenant governor for eight years under then-Gov. Linda Lingle, shared similar anti-abortion sentiments.

Aiona, however, said Hawaii’s law is set and that he would rather focus on other issues like high cost-of-living. Tsuneyoshi wants to limit abortions, but said better education and more sensitivity towards and counseling for pregnant girls and younger women is necessary.

When the candidates were asked about gun rights in Hawaii, Tsuneyoshi said she would consider gun law reforms in Hawaii following a Supreme Court ruling in June that overturned rules for carrying a concealed gun in New York, which will likely lead to more legal owners in the country.

“I do very strongly support the Second Amendment for a citizen’s right to bear arms,” she said. “(I) would be open to looking to, legislatively, what might need to change within our state to address and reflect what’s been happening nationally.”

While Cordery and Aiona said the current gun laws in Hawaii are appropriate, both also said they would uphold the U.S. Constitution, suggesting that they would defend citizens’ Second Amendment rights.

When asked about legalizing recreational marijuana in Hawaii, Tsuneyoshi said it would be up to the public. Cordery and Aiona referred to marijuana as a “gateway drug,” although Cordery said it can be important in medicine. Aiona said there isn’t a need to legalize it.

There was some agreement for local issues.

To address affordable housing needs in Hawaii, Cordery and Aiona said the local housing supply needs to grow and is delayed by permitting.

“When you talk to anybody who’s in the building industry, they’ll note for you, first and foremost, that it’s all about government regulations,” Aiona said. “It’s about the permitting process, it’s about the land use that we have, it’s about entitlements, it’s about contested case hearings. We have some projects right here in Honolulu that are being built right now that started more than 20 years ago.”

Tsuneyoshi wants housing projects throughout the state, saying that they are concentrated in urban Honolulu.

The candidates were also asked about the construction of the controversial Thirty Meter Telescope on Hawaii island’s Mauna Kea, and Tsuneyoshi said she would oppose its construction until she was sure there was proper management in place.

“Gov. Ige, as we know, has now relieved the University of Hawaii as management of Mauna Kea. I believe that is a step in the right direction,” Tsuneyoshi said. “As governor, the Thirty Meter Telescope would not be constructed, at this time, until the proper management is put in place and appropriate public hearing is conducted.”

Cordery said that the construction of the telescope “has a possibility” and said that he, as governor, would bring opposing sides together to come to an agreement. Similarly, Aiona said that construction is possible if all the appropriate stakeholders could come together.

Regarding tourism, Aiona said it needs to be managed, although warned that imposing too many fees on tourists would discourage them from coming.

Cordery said economic diversity would help Hawaii become less dependent on tourism. “We must begin to focus on local industry, on ag, on high-tech, and we can move away from our dependency on tourism,” he said.

Tsuneyoshi said that managing the number of tourists in Hawaii could come by limiting the construction of hotels and addressing illegal vacation rental homes.

Before the end of the debate, Cordery and Aiona said Hawaii needs have a stronger two-party system to solve its problems, instead of having it ruled almost entirely by Democrats.

Aiona said a strong Republican party can “hold the majority party accountable and make it more transparent.”

Hawaii’s primary election is Aug. 13 and mailed ballots will be sent to registered voters in the last week of July.