High cost of housing key issue in Hawaii governor's race

HONOLULU (AP) — Two politicians who have been lieutenant governor are competing Tuesday to be Hawaii’s next governor in an election where the high cost of housing has been a top issue.

The current lieutenant governor, Democrat Josh Green, is running against Republican opponent Duke Aiona, who had that job from 2002 to 2010.

The heavily Democratic state has had just two Republican governors since statehood in 1959. It hasn't elected a Republican to the office since 2006, when voters chose Linda Lingle and her running mate Aiona for a second four-year term.

Aiona ran unsuccessfully for governor twice in the years since, in 2010 and 2014.

Both Green and Aiona focused on Hawaii's debilitating housing costs as the most important issue of their campaigns and their prospective administrations.

Statewide, the median price for a single-family home topped $900,000 during the coronavirus pandemic. That's among the highest in the nation, even though many in Hawaii work in low-wage tourism and service industry jobs. On Oahu, the median is over $1 million.

Green said he would encourage the construction of 10,000 new housing units to help address the housing shortage. He aims to crack down on vacation rentals and tax vacant houses to encourage property owners to open up their empty dwellings for residents to rent.

Aiona proposed developing housing that would be kept affordable in perpetuity. For example, take an affordable property designated for buyers with 80% of area median income. When it's time to sell, buyers of those units would only be allowed to sell to buyers who are also in the 80% area median income bracket.

He said this would preserve housing for local residents.

Aiona lamented that many Hawaii people can't afford to live in their homeland.

“I've heard too many stories...