The Libertarian Party of Hawaii ran its Liberty Survey again this cycle, the same fifteen-question instrument we sent to candidates in 2024. You can view all of the candidates’ answers in spreadsheet form here. The survey asks candidates where they stand on the questions that matter most to us: 

1. The size of government, 

2. Taxation, 

3. Free markets, 

4. Personal liberty, 

5. Criminal justice, 

6. Education, 

7. Healthcare, 

8. Foreign policy, 

9. Privacy, 

10. Gun rights, 

11. Welfare reform, 

12. Local governance, 

13. Business regulation, and 

14. Civil liberties. 

Most importantly, it closes with a pledge asking each candidate to certify that they oppose the initiation of force to achieve political or social goals. Fifty-five candidates responded this year. 

Fifty-two of which signed the pledge, with three declined: Bobby Cuadra (Lt. Governor), Travis Liggett (Mayor, Maui County), and Daniel Michael Gabriel (State Representative, District 46). We respect their honesty above signing something they have not thought through. 

Responses came in from candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, both congressional districts, dozens of State House and Senate districts, all four county councils, mayoral seats in Maui and Kauai counties, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Candidates across the political spectrum wanted to be on record for the voters who care most about liberty.

(A few candidates submitted the survey more than once, and in those cases we counted their most recent entry.) 

Survey Results

Below is a breakdown of the statistics among all respondants based on the survey results. Alternatively, you can jump to a breakdown of each individual candidate.

Government intervention in personal lives saw overwhelming support for restraint, with nearly 92% of respondents either “agreeing” or “strongly agreeing” that the government should minimize its involvement in citizens’ personal lives.

Taxation drew strong support for reduction and simplification, with over 86% of respondents either “agreeing” or “strongly agreeing” that taxes should be reduced and simplified to promote individual freedom and economic growth.

Free markets received strong majority support, with over 80% of respondents either “agreeing” or “strongly agreeing” that free markets are the best way to allocate resources and create wealth.

The strongest liberty scores clustered around a handful of topics. Personal liberty drew near-universal agreement, with almost every entry “agreeing” or “strongly agreeing” that individuals should be free to make their own choices so long as they do not infringe on others. 

Privacy rights and civil liberties scored similarly high. Support for limiting government surveillance and protecting speech and assembly ran deep across nearly every respondent.

Criminal justice reform produced the widest split. The question asked candidates whether they support decriminalizing certain nonviolent offenses, including drug possession, and answers ran the full range from strongly agree to strongly disagree. This has long been one of the sharper dividing lines in Hawaii politics.

Education saw strong support for school choice, with nearly 85% of respondents either “agreeing” or “strongly agreeing” that parents should be empowered with options including charter schools, vouchers, and homeschooling.

Healthcare was the other question that separated the field. The prompt asked whether candidates support reducing government involvement in healthcare in favor of a free market approach. A meaningful number of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed here, more than on almost any other question, which fits what we see in Hawaii's current landscape.

Foreign policy showed solid but more divided support for non-interventionism, with about 73% of respondents either “agreeing” or “strongly agreeing” in favor of avoiding entanglements in foreign conflicts.

Gun rights enjoyed strong majority support, with nearly 80% of respondents either “agreeing” or “strongly agreeing” that individuals should have the right to own and carry firearms without excessive restrictions.

Welfare programs received majority support for reform, with about 76% of respondents either “agreeing” or “strongly agreeing” that welfare programs should be reformed to encourage personal responsibility and self-sufficiency.

Local governance drew near-universal agreement, with nearly 90% of respondents either “agreeing” or “strongly agreeing” that local governments should have more authority and autonomy to make decisions affecting their communities.

Reducing business regulations received strong support, with about 78% of respondents either “agreeing” or “strongly agreeing” that regulations on businesses should be reduced to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.

How Liberty Scores Are Calculated

A few candidates returned strong-agree or agree responses straight down every question. Danny Degracia (House District 39), Dan Johnson (House District 12), George Teva Lucas-Tadeo (Governor), Victor Muh (State House), and James Logue (State Senate District 13) were among those posting the most consistently liberty-forward marks across the full survey.

Each response gains a rating from 0-4. The Non-aggression pledge receives 10 points if signed. This makes 70 a perfect liberty score. 

Candidates With Perfect Liberty Scores

For the top-ranking candidates, we’ve included a brief synopsis from their campaigns. The answers may or may not align with their public campaigns.

Danny Degracia (State Representative House District 39) — Score: 70

Achieved a perfect liberty score by strongly agreeing with every single liberty principle surveyed; signed the pledge.

With over two decades of experience in both the Executive and Legislative branch, Danny knows what works and what doesn’t work. Hawai’i needs simple, straightforward, fair and easy policies that we can count on to secure a better tomorrow for us, today. What Danny will fight for on Day One:

• Make Hawai’i Affordable

• Strengthen the Economy

• Build Housing and Infrastructure

• Protect Hawai’i 

• Transparency and Accountability

  
  

George Teva Lucas-Tadeo (Governor) — Score: 70

Achieved a perfect liberty score by strongly agreeing with every listed liberty principle; signed the pledge.

With a platform focused on systemic change, George Teva Lucas-Tadeo aims for economic diversification, and heavy investments in social infrastructure. His campaign centers on relieving the financial burden of residents living paycheck-to-paycheck. 

His specific goals and core policy pillars include:

• Build a native Hawaiian reservation to deliver generational justice

• Legalize Recreational Cannabis

• Establish Regulated Casinos

• Avoid Middle-Class Taxes by expanding the economy via new industries 

• Expand Welfare Support and protect vulnerable groups

• Fund Affordable Housing

  
  

Victor Muh (State House Representative) — Score: 70

Achieved a perfect liberty score, indicating complete and strong alignment with every survey question; signed the pledge.

After living and working for 25 years in Austria, France, and China, Victor returned to Hawaiʻi with a broad perspective on how government, culture, and economic policy affect everyday life. He learned resilience by rebuilding from scratch in different countries and communities.

At his human optimization clinic, Superhuman, Victor looks for the root causes of health and performance problems. He would bring the same disciplined, results-focused approach to the State Legislature. His priorities include:

• Lower Cost of Living

• Homeownership Pathways

• Self Sufficient Economy

• Government Transparency

• Public Safety & Due Process and Constitutional Rights

• Families and Education

More Candidate Responses

• Dan Johnson (Hawaii House of Representatives, District 12) — Score: 69

Showed excellent alignment, strongly agreeing with nearly every single metric provided; signed the pledge.

• JoNelle Fukushima (County Council District 2) — Score: 69

Highly aligned with the survey's core principles, choosing "Strongly Agree" on nearly every question; signed the pledge.

• James Logue (State Senate District 13) — Score: 69

Nearly perfect alignment with the survey's goals, scoring high across all metrics; successfully signed the pledge.

• Tara Malia Gregory (City Council Honolulu District 4) — Score: 68

Expressed deep support for civil liberties and free markets, strongly agreeing with almost all statements; signed the pledge.

• David Hazlebeck (State House Representative District 16) — Score: 68

Strongly agreed with all surveyed principles except for criminal justice reform, where he remained indifferent; signed the pledge.

• Maurice Morita (State House of Representative, H.D. 36) — Score: 68

Demonstrated excellent alignment with the survey, heavily favoring "Strongly Agree" across the board; signed the pledge.

• P. Denise La Costa (Mayor of Maui County) — Score: 67

Scored highly due to strong alignment with free market and civil liberty principles; signed the pledge.

• Megeso-William Denis (Mayor of Kauai County) — Score: 66

Showed excellent alignment across the board, only breaking to disagree on criminal justice reform; signed the pledge.

• David Asing (House, District 20) — Score: 66

Showed very strong alignment across nearly all topics, remaining indifferent on foreign policy; signed the pledge.

• Gary Cordery (Governor) — Score: 65

Strongly supports most liberty concepts but disagrees with criminal justice reform; signed the pledge.

• Monique Perreira (House District 8) — Score: 65

Showed strong alignment overall but disagrees on criminal justice; signed the pledge.

• Rocklin Youngstrom (District 46 - State House) — Score: 65

Strongly supports a majority of the statements while remaining indifferent on criminal justice; signed the pledge.

• Tess Abalos (State House District 29) — Score: 65

Showed excellent alignment overall but strongly opposed the survey's stance on criminal justice reform; signed the pledge.

Pikachu Shelby Billionaire (OHA At Large Trustee) — Score: 64

Answered strongly agree or agree across the board with no disagreements; signed the pledge.

• John Choi (Lt. Governor) — Score: 63

Strongly supported most with a strong disagreement in the healthcare topic; signed the pledge.

• Gaius Dupio II (House of Representatives 34) — Score: 63

Broadly aligned with the survey's liberty goals but remained indifferent to criminal justice and foreign policy; signed the pledge.

• James (Jimmy T) Trujillo (Kaua’i County Council) — Score: 62

Broadly aligned, but expressed disagreement with the healthcare approach; signed the pledge.

• Jonathan Kennealy (Hawaii State House District 2) — Score: 60

Broadly supported liberty principles but strongly opposed the suggested criminal justice reforms; signed the pledge.

• Tanya Yamanaka Aynessazian (State Senate D2 - Puna) — Score: 60

Demonstrated solid support across most categories while remaining neutral on free markets and welfare; signed the pledge.

• Misty Cluett (State Representative District 17) — Score: 60

Aligned on most issues, but disagreed with criminal justice reform, foreign policy, and local governance; signed the pledge.

• Bill DeCosta (Kauai County Council) — Score: 60

Consistently agreed or strongly agreed with the principles, showing indifference only toward foreign policy; signed the pledge.

• Chantel Makuaole-Perrin (Hawaii County Council District 5) — Score: 59

Agreed or strongly agreed with most measures but remained indifferent on criminal justice and healthcare; signed the pledge.

• John Scooby Mattos (Kauai Council) — Score: 59

Aligned with most principles but strongly disagreed with the proposed criminal justice reform; signed the pledge.

• Lei Ahu Isa (Senate District 13) — Score: 58

Generally agreed with most principles but remained indifferent regarding privacy and gun rights; signed the pledge.

• Michaela Widener (Mayor of Kaua'i) — Score: 57

Alignment with most metrics, but indifferent on healthcare and privacy rights; signed the pledge.

• Zak Wittenhagen (State house district 4) — Score: 57

Moderate agreement, with several areas of indifference such as welfare and local governance; signed the pledge.

• Richard T. Bissen, Jr. (Mayor, County of Maui) — Score: 56

Mostly moderate, but disagrees with the healthcare and gun rights positions; signed the pledge.

• James Forrest (Maui County Council: Wailuku Seat) — Score: 56

Moderate agreement with almost every issue, but disagrees with the healthcare metric; signed the pledge.

• Greg Guithues (US House HI-2) — Score: 56

Strongly supports many key liberties but disagrees on taxation, free markets, and welfare; signed the pledge.

• Anthony Makana Paris (Hawaii State Representative House District 42) — Score: 56

Mix of strong and moderate agreement, with disagreement on healthcare and gun rights; signed the pledge.

• Daniel Michael Gabriel (State Representative - District 46) — Score: 56

Aligned with almost all principles, showing only indifference to criminal justice and foreign policy. He chose not to sign the pledge, receiving no bonus points.

• Chad Schimmelfennig (House of Representatives) — Score: 55

Consistently chose moderate agreement for nearly every issue; signed the pledge.

• Paul Noboru Applegate (Kaua'i Conty Council) — Score: 55

Mostly moderate alignment, but disagrees on criminal justice, and indifferent to healthcare and foreign policy; signed the pledge.

• Inam Rahman (Senate District 19) — Score: 55

Showed general support for the principles but strongly opposed the proposed healthcare approach; signed the pledge.

• Fern Anuenue Holland (Kauai County Council) — Score: 55

Mostly supportive of the principles but disagrees with the free market approach; signed the pledge.

• Edward Codelia (U.S. House of Representatives, Hawaiʻi Congressional District 2) — Score: 54

Primarily chose moderate agreement across issues, but explicitly disagreed on criminal justice reform and healthcare; signed the pledge.

• Markus Owens (State Senate District 20) — Score: 53

Mostly choosing "Agree," while expressing indifference toward foreign policy; signed the pledge.

• Karl Veto Baker (OHA Trustee At Large) — Score: 53

Mixed pattern, disagrees with criminal justice reform and gun rights; signed the pledge.

• William Halversen (County Council District 2) — Score: 53

Strongly supported many metrics but opposed gun rights and welfare reform. Fiscal responsibility was left blank (scored as 0); signed the pledge.

• Nani Brown (Senate District 17) — Score: 52

Strongly agrees with personal liberties but disagrees on several financial and educational issues. She left taxation unanswered (scored as a 0); signed the pledge.

• Jesse Fitzgerald (District 50 house seat) — Score: 51

Mixed responses, disagrees on government intervention, free markets, and welfare programs; signed the pledge.

• Calvert A. Williamson (Governor) — Score: 51

Strong agreement on some, but disagrees on education, healthcare, and welfare; signed the pledge.

• Keoni Kuoha (House of Representatives, District 12, Upcountry Maui) — Score: 51

Mostly moderate agreement with strong opposition to criminal justice reform. The free markets question was unanswered and scored as 0; signed the pledge.

• Ashley Olson (Hawai`i State House District 14) — Score: 49

Mixed, disagrees on free markets, education, and healthcare; signed the pledge.

• Philip (Kawika) Martin (Office of Hawaiian Affairs At-Large Trustee) — Score: 48

Polarized views, strongly agrees with some personal liberties, strongly disagrees on taxation, free markets, and education; signed the pledge.

• Anthony Nagatani (State House District 28) — Score: 48

Opposition to several metrics including government intervention and education; signed the pledge.

• Felicia Cowden (Kauai Mayor) — Score: 47

Moderate agreement on the questions answered. Free markets, criminal justice, and healthcare were unanswered (scored as 0s); signed the pledge.

• Laura Lindsey (Mayor Kauai and Niihau) — Score: 46

Moderate support mixed with disagreement on free markets, healthcare, and gun rights; signed the pledge.

• Travis A. Liggett, MS (Mayor, County of Maui) — Score: 46

Strongly aligns with early questions but strongly disagrees on gun rights and welfare reform. He chose not to sign the pledge, receiving no bonus points.

• Herman Wilson (Kauai County Council) — Score: 44

Multiple indifferent and particularly disagrees with the criminal justice, foreign policy, and gun rights topics; signed the pledge.

• Jordan Conley (US House of Representatives) — Score: 41

Strongly disagrees with taxation, free markets, and healthcare. Disagrees with gun rights, business regulation, government intervention, and welfare. Signed the pledge.

CUADRA, Ku, L. (Bobby) (Lieutenant Government) — Score: 38

Strongly disagrees on healthcare, privacy, and civil liberties. He chose not to sign the pledge, receiving no bonus points.