If there is one thing that Hawaii loves, it is a winner. So when Dr. Josh Green waltzed into office in 2022 with a 62.2% win, the largest gubernatorial vote percentage in state history, the Big Island emergency room doctor embarked on a honeymoon with Hawaii voters that has yet to cool.
Measuring on a national scale, Green’s popularity has moved the Hawaii governor’s office out of the basement and onto the top floors.
Former Gov. David Ige has faded into the background and his never-good popularity numbers show why.
Green has an approval rating of 64% and a disapproval rating of just 24%. Based on these figures, he ranks as the sixth most popular state governor in the country, reports Morning Consult, a public opinion data research company.
In comparison, Ige’s opening numbers were the pits.
Morning Consult in 2017 found Ige with the worst popularity ranking of any governor: 32% approval and 58% disapproval.
Green didn’t compare his standing to Ige’s, but instead said his administration is focused and goal-oriented.
“I’m doing my best to tackle our largest problems like housing, homelessness and affordability in a decisive way. I care about people and I think local people here sense that our administration is moving swiftly to make a positive difference,” Green said in an email interview last week.
These numbers were calculated before Green publicized his declaration of a state housing emergency and the creation of an ad hoc task force to start reviewing approvals for thousands of new homes across the state.
The emergency proposals have drawn critics, as the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported last week.
“It’s unconstitutional, it’s anti-Hawaiian, it’s anti-environment and it’s anti-democratic,” said David Kimo Frankel, an attorney for the Sierra Club of Hawaii. “There’s going to be a lot of litigation as a result of this.”
In other areas, Green’s political honeymoon has allowed either approval or little protest to some of his actions. For example, there has been no backlash for his juggling the state school board, dropping attorney Bruce Voss as chairman and installing businessman Warren Haruki in his place. Haruki has declined media interviews, according to a Star-Advertiser report, and the Department of Education does not seem to be starting off a new school year with any new message.
Green, meanwhile, reports that he sees his ability and willingness to communicate to be high among the reasons why his popularity is soaring.
In his interview, Green said he understands the importance of being able to talk with the voters and extend understanding of the state’s administration policies.
“People appreciate action and I’m approaching this job of governor like an emergency room doc, not like a pathologist,” Green said.
“And a preview: Expect major action from me and our team on the physician shortage and gun violence in the next two months,” Green said, teasing his next policy statement.
As lieutenant governor, Green would not hesitate to push his own agenda when he thought that then-Gov. Ige had shut him out of the political process. Now with Green in charge of the entire state government, everything is focused on him and his decision process.
That appears to be the precise picture Green wants and is not afraid to repeatedly push forward, confident that action is what the public wants from its leaders.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.
