Hawaii contractor nominated to construct GOP comeback after two-decade Democratic hold on governor's mansion

Gary Cordery, who owns a contracting company, won the Republican nomination for Hawaii governor after defeating business owner Ken Fujiyama in Saturday’s primary.

He is now set to face Democratic Gov. Josh Green in November in a race that heavily favors the incumbent. The Cook Political Report rates the contest as Solid Democratic, with a Partisan Voting Index of D+13.

Cordery faces a steep challenge: Hawaii has not had a Republican governor since Linda Lingle left office in 2010.

He is also proposing eliminating the state’s General Excise Tax on food and medicine and freezing property taxes for homeowners at retirement. Cordery argues that the state is failing to properly manage taxpayers’ dollars and says he would order audits to root out waste.

“Hawai’i’s 20.5 billion dollar budget for 1.4 mil[lion] people is a staggering number. New Hampshire has 1.4 million people but a $7.75 billion dollar budget,” Cordery said. “I believe our tax burden is out of control. The answer is management.”