This year, the job website Glassdoor found that online commenters had used the word “fatigue” a whopping 41% more times than in 2024. Said another way, the entire country finally got to feel in 2025 like how Hawaiʻi residents have felt since forever — burned out, frustrated and feeling like no one is coming to save them.

Contrary to what most people might think, the voters of Hawaiʻi are not looking for “new leadership” in 2026. Hawaiʻi residents are, in fact, tired of being told what to do, what to think, how to live, and what they purportedly owe to a system that benefits the political leadership of the establishment but barely moves the needle for them.

What is needed above all else in 2026 is new listeners, new empathizers and new encouragers. Institutions in Hawaiʻi have lost credibility because it is impossible to tell the people, “We’re here to help you, here’s my big idea” while simultaneously saying “never mind the raging dumpster fire in the corner that I was responsible for.” 

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It also is difficult to resolve the long-standing animus and trauma that has divided many Hawaiʻi communities and residents if we are not willing to make a clean break from the past. Hawaiʻi needs people mature enough to acknowledge that institutions did not always act in the people’s best interests, and that regardless of what was meant to happen, some of our leaders hurt more people than they helped and we need to do something to fix that.

This is why in 2026 individuals like myself are committing to take a more active role in the Hawaiʻi Republican Party, because we understand that no matter what your partisan preferences may be, Hawaiʻi needs people who are able to shut up, listen and go out and get the breakthrough they need done for them. The chair of the Hawaiʻi Republican Party, Shirlene Ostrov, has asked me to volunteer my efforts to help reform the party, and as someone who believes in good government, I am happy to help.

In the past, the Hawaiʻi Republican Party suffered from various leaders and personalities who were tone-deaf on important issues and who allowed personal demons to color their actions in the name of the party. We make no excuses for this; they were wrong, what happened in the past was not our finest hour, and from this day forward, there will be a committed effort to be a party worthy of the public’s trust.

We need a strong and relevant Hawaiʻi Republican Party to be a better and more responsive Hawaiʻi. A Democratic supermajority disenfranchises moderates, progressives and conservatives alike, but having a Legislature where negotiation can be leveraged between a spectrum of interests can be the first step in getting locals heard and seen again.

We need to understand that the people of Hawaiʻi are living in a broken and difficult world, and they courageously still choose to show up every day in spite of all the inconveniences and challenges they face. This is why I too, along with others, are going to work within the Hawaiʻi Republican Party to show up for the people who feel like they are unseen and unheard.

This new form of representation and service that we promise to the voters of Hawaiʻi will be characterized by three simple tenets.

Listening Is The New Leadership

Our first priority is that we are here to listen, learn and take back what the people are experiencing to Honolulu.

Conservatives understand from the Declaration of Independence that “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” We are here to make you seen and heard again.

Humility and service is the gateway to making Hawaiʻi great. We are not here to take away the things you like, tell you to do things you don’t want to do or force you to shoulder any new sacrifices in the name of the state. We are not here to disrupt or destroy your way of life, but to make things easier, predictable and reliable for you and your family again.

Competence And Results, Not Slogans

Being “right” is not an ideological position on a political spectrum, it’s a measurement of excellence on scale of performance. What we do is much more important than what we say. Our character, our demonstrated ability to deliver results, and our ability to be trusted with responsibility is what convinces people that we are worth investing their hope in.

The people of Hawaiʻi are doing their best to keep their families fed and their heads above water. They deserve to be represented by people who work every bit as hard as they do, if not harder, who will get the job done right.

Change Starts With Us

We acknowledge our past shortcomings, failures and oversights because our focus is on being better today, for the sake of tomorrow’s successes. If we expect transparency in government, we too, must be transparent with ourselves. We are not afraid of criticism and we understand that patriotism is a journey that requires us to make corrections, evaluate decisions and place the responsibility for all change on ourselves.

Change starts with us, and a Hawaiʻi Republican Party that is courageous enough to break from the past will be relevant for all Hawaiʻi in the future.

President Gerald Ford once said, “Our values, our principles, and our determination to succeed as a free and democratic people will give us a torch to lead the way. And we will survive and become stronger — not only because of a patriotism that stands for love of country, but a patriotism that stands for love of people.”

I will be working with party members, legislators and members of the public to help facilitate these changes within the Hawaiʻi Republican Party in the days to come. I hope that you will help me as well, not merely for party, but for the honor of all Hawaiʻi.