© 2024 Hawaiʻi Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Congressional District One: Republican Cam Cavasso

Wayne Yoshioka

The Republican Candidate for the Congressional District One seat, representing urban Honolulu, is a veteran politician. 

 

Three-time Republican state representative Cam Cavasso is running his first race for the U-S House of Representatives.He beat his GOP opponent by a margin of 4-to-one.

 

“Hawai’i is being left out of the prosperity and success that’s being experiences by the rest of nation in so many areas.  We’re being left out because there’s no balance in our delegation to Washington D.C.  The delegates we have, have attacked the current administration, the President and Congress and have alienated themselves from the ability to have a Hawai’i voice heard in our Capitol in D.C.  We need balance.”

 

Cavasso ran 3 unsuccessful U-S Senate races, two times against incumbent Daniel Inouye.  He says he’s running a contemporary and technology-based campaign for CD-1.

 

“We are conducting a modern, electronic, social media campaign that utilizes modern-day tools for communicating.  We’re able to run a campaign today with fewer dollars than we could 10 years ago.  Yes, we’re sign waving.  But, I’m working 12-to-18 hours a day on communication with all of Hawai’i using the most modern techniques we can find.”

 

He’s an Army veteran, businessman, financial advisor, husband and father of 5.  He believes individual enterprise and competition leads to effective problem-solving and says he embraces everyone.

 

“I was student body president of Kailua High School way back when.  And, there were no Democrats. No Republicans.  When I was elected to our Hawai’i Legislature, I really came with a blindness to party, not realizing the prejudice, almost the racism between the two parties and I fought to work through that. I paddle canoes with Democrats, Republicans and independents alike.  We have a good time in the canoe.  We paddle together and we can do the same for our whole state.”

 

Cavasso received 10,564 votes in the Primary Election, half of all GOP ballots cast.  And, he must make considerable gains with Democratic voters who outnumbered Republicans 7-to-1.

 

“I expect to win this election.  I’m excited about the attention and the reception I’m receiving.  I’m excited about my personal confidence that we have this election won and that we will go to Washington and we will communicate closely between Washington and Hawai’i and re-invigor the hope and the initiative in our Hawai’i people.”

 

For HPR News, I’m Wayne Yoshioka.

Wayne Yoshioka
Wayne Yoshioka is an award-winning journalist who has worked in television, print and radio in Hawaiʻi. He also has been on both sides of politics as a state departmental appointee and political/government reporter. He covered Hurricane Iwa (1982) as a TV reporter; was the State Department of Defense/Civil Defense spokesperson for Hurricane Iniki (1992); and, commanded a public affairs detachment in Afghanistan (2006). He has a master's degree in Communication from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and is a decorated combat veteran (Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and 22 other commendation/service medals). He resides in Honolulu.
Related Stories