Gary Cordery

Gary Cordery says Hawaii's housing costs became a family issue when his two daughters and their husbands decided they could no longer afford to stay.¹ They announced the decision at a family meeting, he told Civil Beat; their families now live in Utah with his seven grandchildren.¹

Born in Colorado and raised in Auburn, California, Cordery began working as a construction laborer in 1978.¹ Military construction contracts took him around the country before he moved to Hawaii in 1981.¹ He later founded Kingdom Builders, a construction company that employed thirteen people at the time of his October 2026 interview.¹

Cordery cofounded the Aloha Freedom Coalition, which organized protests against pandemic restrictions, and remains on its board after stepping down as director.¹ He first ran for governor in 2022, finishing third in the Republican primary, and won the party's 2026 nomination.¹ His business agenda favors faster permits, more open government contracting and stronger connections between vocational training and local employers.²

His housing plan promises 15,000 homes priced from $400,000 to $600,000, supported by land and permitting changes.³ He also proposes eliminating the general excise tax on food and medicine and creating a government transparency office.⁴ He faces Democratic Governor Josh Green, offering voters a different approach to housing costs, state spending and government oversight.¹³