Gov. Josh Green knows what he is up against, but that doesn’t make the job any easier.

In a detailed email interview last week, Green discussed what he predicted will be a scrappy fight to build more houses in Hawaii.

Green goes into the housing battle with solid backing from Hawaii voters. He won his first gubernatorial race in 2022 with 63.2% of the vote. That performance adds up to be the highest percentage of the vote received by any gubernatorial candidate in the state’s history.

Green, at 54, is the first Hawaii governor born after Hawaii’s statehood and has already announced he is running for reelection.

First up, however, he needs some legislative victories to show to the voters — essentially saying, “See what I can do.”

What he wants to do, Green said, is build.

“Building affordable housing is our largest and most complicated challenge in Hawaii, perhaps only rivaled by homelessness and the Maui recovery,” he said.

The process, Green explained, has been slow, noting: “In Year One we brought everyone to the table, including the groups that have historically put up every obstacle to building homes.”

But according to Green, the emergency proclamation on housing issued in July of last year didn’t mark an easy victory. “It didn’t move NIMBY activism much, in spite of local families’ needs. These groups simply don’t want us to build housing.”

Still, the governor claims that with his help, the state will see “10,800 units of public housing and (we) have begun to see groundbreakings for senior housing projects and more urban infill projects.”

Calling for a “two-pronged approach” to incentivize affordable projects, Green sees his housing push to be a mission that will define his administration.

“If we want our children and grandchildren to be able to live in Hawaii, this is a mission we can’t turn our backs on,” he said.

The governor’s efforts took a public hit last year when his point person for housing — Nani Medeiros, who was brought in by Green from the private sector — resigned in September, saying she was driven from her post.

“Over the last several weeks many lies have been said about me and my family,” Medeiros said at the time. “Threats have been made against me, loved ones who don’t even work for the government, and even children.”

The Green housing program has continued, but then at the end of February, the governor spiked his “Build Beyond Barriers Working Group.”

Housing, however, is still needed. The Star-Advertiser last week quoted a policy specialist with Green’s housing team, who said that “only 8,000 of the backlog of 50,000 homes were expected to be delivered by 2025.”

Apparently this isn’t a concern for voters, yet.

Morning Consult, a public opinion data research company, reports that among the nation’s governors, Green is one of the highest rated.

“Based on 2023 survey data, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green has an approval rating of 62% and a disapproval rating of 22%. Based on these figures, Green ranks as the sixth most popular state governor in the country,” according to Morning Consult.

Green’s next test result will be delivered Nov. 3, 2026, as the Hawaii general election votes are tallied. How he did in advancing Hawaii’s housing cause will be a big part of the voters’ judgment.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.