Gary Cordery
Republican candidate for governor of Hawaii. Every point on this page links to its source. We don't grade candidates or tell you how to vote. As of 2026-10-08.
At a glance
| Party | Republican |
| Running for | Governor, Hawaii |
Record
No offices on record in the sources we use.
Where they stand
In their own words, from their campaign website, summarised in plain English.
Economy and cost of living
Cordery says he wants to cut the cost of living by ending the general excise tax on food and medicine, and to build 15,000 homes priced between $400K and $600K for working families, teachers, nurses and seniors. He also says he would speed up permitting and cut unnecessary regulations and state fees for local businesses.
“We will reduce the cost of living by eliminating GET taxes on food and medicine, and freezing property taxes at the age of retirement on primary homes.”
Taxes and government spending
Cordery says he would eliminate the general excise tax on food and medicine, freeze property taxes on seniors' primary homes at retirement, and create tax exemptions for Native Hawaiian homeowners. He also says he would require annual audits of government departments and public-private partnerships.
Health care
No stated position on their website.
Social Security and Medicare
Cordery says he would freeze property taxes for seniors (Kūpuna) at retirement on their primary home and remove the general excise tax on medicine. He does not mention Social Security or Medicare.
Immigration and the border
No stated position on their website.
Abortion
No stated position on their website.
Energy and climate
No stated position on their website.
Guns
No stated position on their website.
Crime and policing
No stated position on their website.
Education
Cordery says he wants to replace the "test-and-graduate" model with graduation based on proficiency, backed by tutoring. He also supports merit pay for teachers, financial literacy in every classroom, Hawaiian language instruction starting in 3rd grade, and a separate local budget for each island.
“Proficiency-based graduation, supported by tutoring — replacing the “test-and-graduate” model.”
Foreign policy and defense
No stated position on their website.
Elections and ethics in government
Cordery says he would create a Government Transparency Office to make spending, contracts and decisions public, require annual audits of government departments and public-private partnerships, and send all corruption cases directly to the Attorney General. He also says he would end no-bid contracts.
“Forward all corruption cases directly to the Attorney General for swift action.”
Ratings and endorsements
No ratings: the groups we track score votes in Congress and endorse federal candidates, and we have not collected ratings or endorsements for governor candidates.
Money
Candidates for governor report to the state, not the FEC, and this page doesn't cover state reports. Hawaii's campaign-finance reports ↗
Praise, criticism and controversies
These sections are not covered for governor candidates yet: every item in them is checked by a person before it is shown, and that review covers Senate candidates for now.
From Semblen
Semblen analyzed 2 ads from Gary Cordery's campaign; 2 used at least one manipulation technique, most often Conspiracy Appeal, Glittering Generalities, Loaded Language. See the ads, the money and every candidate in this race →
Sources
- https://www.garycorderyforgovernor.com
- https://www.garycorderyforgovernor.com/about-gary
- https://www.garycorderyforgovernor.com/business-vision
- https://www.garycorderyforgovernor.com/key-issues-priorities
- https://www.garycorderyforgovernor.com/vision
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