The Abortion Issue May Influence Voters In The Hawaii Race For Governor 0 Democrat Josh Green and Republican Duke Aiona differ sharply on the issue, which is on many voters’ minds now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned.
Abortion has generally been a sleeper issue in local politics since 1970, when Hawaii became the first state in the nation to make abortion legal. But the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade has raised the possibility that the governor’s race this year could become a kind of local referendum on the matter.
Democratic Lt. Gov. Josh Green and Republican former Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona are lined up on opposite sides of the abortion issue, and some longtime veteran campaigners are convinced that in heavily Democratic Hawaii, that split works in Green’s favor.
Green has not floated any abortion-related political advertising yet, but he underscored his views on the issue last month with an announcement that he will issue an executive order on his first day in office to try to ensure women have access to abortions.
