Civil Beat has asked candidates for the primary election to answer a survey about where they stand on various issues and what their priorities will be if elected.

The following comes from James Wataru, Democratic candidate for state House District 18, which includes Portlock, Hawaiʻi Kai and Kalama Valley.

He will face Republican incumbent Joe Gedeon in the general election. Both are running unopposed in the primary.

Go to Civil Beat’s 2026 Elections Guide for general information, and check out the other candidates on Civil Beatʻs 2026 Hawaiʻi Primary Ballot.

Why are you best suited for the job? And why do you want the job?

I’ve spent my life living and working in this community. It has provided a strong foundation and supported my family through our highs and lows. We are not rich, nor even living confidently “comfortable.” We are a working-class family that has had, and still endures, financial struggles at times. What our community needs is a voice in the Legislature that lives and understands what it’s like for our working families. I vow to work hard and fight hard for those values for my community.

What is the biggest issue facing your district, and what is the first thing you would do to address it in the first six months after being elected?

The cost of living is the most pressing and critical issue facing our community. Housing is unaffordable for our families; grocery costs keep rising; gas prices are skyrocketing, electricity bills are spiking. While the federal administration’s tariffs and conflicts destabilize world markets, Hawaiʻi can still do more to offset rising costs of living. We need to support tourism, keep construction going for more jobs and diversify our economy with more support for agriculture and technology.

Here’s one question from your constituents: Do you support maintaining a monopoly for interisland shipping?

Young Brothers operates under an extremely regulated monopoly that mandates they must make regularly scheduled calls on ports that they lose money on, to ensure regular service to islands. While some seek competition, every maritime shipping company that I have spoken with has told me there is no interest in entering a highly regulated market that has been operating at a deficit for years. So if true, then yes, I would support the continuation of a system that requires essential services to all islands.

What do you think were the most important bills to come out of the 2026 Legislature? What failed that should have passed? What passed that you wish had failed?

I was pleased to see the Legislature figure out a way to maintain the income tax cuts that were enacted two years ago. While making adjustments for high-income earners, it was critical for the Legislature to maintain its promised tax cuts for middle-income families. I do wish that there were more bills to affect our high cost of living, and more bills to see more reforms against government corruption.

The 2026 session was also overshadowed by an issue of public trust: $35,000 in the brown paper bag given to an “influential” state lawmaker. What do you think the Legislature needs to do going forward to rebuild public confidence in state government?

We need more resources for the investigatory and enforcement arms of our government – ethics commission, campaign spending commission, attorney general. We should also look to have more transparency and reporting in campaign donations by candidates and ethics compliance by donors and lobbyists.

In recent years, Hawai’i has experienced a series of damaging and dangerous weather events that have exposed weaknesses in our planning, preparation and response. What could you as a lawmaker do to help your district be better prepared?

My community has fortunately been spared much of the most hard hitting impacts of these weather events compared to some other devastated communities. But as we saw with the Kona low floods, our community needs to be diligent about keeping streams, ditches and sewer systems clear of debris. With many areas of the district just feet above sea level and on the edge of waterways, we need to work closely with government and community agencies to ensure these areas are maintained and stay clear.

What would you do in office to address the here and now of climate change? And how would you address the costs to taxpayers, property owners and businesses to adapt?

While our state has been great at trying to mitigate our state’s effect on climate change, Hawaiʻi’s input into the global problem is minimal. Instead, our focus needs to be adaptation and what we will do when it comes. We need to invest and build up our infrastructure to be more resilient to withstand sea level rise and severe weather. The Green Fee is a great start, but more needs to be done, especially for critical roadways like Kalanianaʻole Highway, which is mere feet above sea level.

Over 3,000 bills are introduced every session and there is always frantic horsetrading in the final days of session. Do you think there should be a limit on the number of bills introduced to enable more meaningful debate?

No. While I can agree that the end process with horse-trading can be frustrating, limiting bills hardly seems like an effective way to minimize it. Instead, the Legislature should be viewed as the marketplace of ideas, and it is legislators who have strong relationships, can work the process and can advocate for their point of view that are the most effective. I have worked with several sitting legislators for years and I know how to get things done.

Hawaiʻi lawmakers are often in the dark about how much a piece of legislation will cost because the Aloha State is the only one in the nation that doesn’t require a fiscal analysis for bills. Should lawmakers be forced to put a realistic price tag on the legislation they introduce?

No. This would require a significant increase in the legislative budget to properly resource this additional fiscal analysis and I do not support increasing the cost and size of government so that there are price tags, when as noted in question above, most bills never even pass. The Legislature is required to pass a balanced budget and so as long as the costs are analyzed at the end before it passes, I am fine with that.

There are no term limits for state legislators in Hawaiʻi, so incumbents tend to win. Would you seek to change that? Why or why not?

No. States that have enacted term limits have found that this tends to simply result in the loss of institutional knowledge, increased influence by lobbyists who would have known or seen issues before, and over-reliance on legislative staff who then become the holders of the history and data. The majority of the current House representatives are members in their first or second term, which seems to indicate that there are not many barriers for new legislators.

What would you do to help improve the state’s public school system?

Teachers, like ALL hard working public workers, need higher pay to attract and retain the highly qualified. We also need to address the maintenance backlog. Having worked in the DOE I have seen first-hand the challenges that they face. Sadly, they never include the workforce in the discussion and instead spend money on highly paid consultants, when a lot of times those with the answers are right in front of them.

Hawaiʻi is heavily reliant on tourism. What would you propose to diversify Hawaiʻi’s economy?

I support Hawaiʻi’s tourism industry, but agree we do need to diversify. Hawaiʻi is uniquely situated between the US mainland and Asia and we can do more to be a technology center for telecom, data centers and developing clean energy. We must also support more efforts towards growing quality agricultural products and doing agricultural and biotech research.

An estimated 60% of Hawaiʻi residents are struggling to get by. It’s a problem that reaches far beyond low-income folks and into the middle class, which is disappearing. What would you do to help?

As a working middle class family for all my life, I understand and live the struggles every day. We need someone like me in the Legislature that will look at all of the bills coming from that perspective to ensure that we are not burdening our residents with more taxes, costs or fees. I promise to work hard and do my upmost to be that voice in the Legislature because these decisions do not just affect my community, but they also directly affect me, my family and my children’s families.