Hawaii Governor 2026: the ads, and who's paying for them
Josh Green (Democrat) and Gary Cordery (Republican) are the candidates for governor of Hawaii in the November 3, 2026 general election. Josh Green is the incumbent. Semblen has analyzed 14 ads in this race; 7 used at least one manipulation technique, most often glittering generalities and false urgency.
Josh Green (DEM, incumbent), Gary Cordery (REP).
On the ballot as listed by Hawaii Office of Elections, 2026 General Election Voter Guide. 14 ads analyzed, 7 with at least one technique in the copy.
Newest first. The paid-for-by line is the advertiser's own filing. Updated 2026-10-08.
$30,600–36,785 on all ads, $19,500–22,892 on flagged ads · Meta reports ranges; these are the sums of their ends
Example
“cares about people” — Glittering Generalities, paid for by Josh Green for Hawaii
· the flagged ad with the highest reported spend that shows the most common technique
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Leaving out the softer ones (loaded language, glittering generalities, slogans, exaggeration, repetition): 36% of ads.
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Money in this race
Candidates for governor report their fundraising to Hawaii's state campaign-finance office, not the FEC. This page doesn't cover those reports yet, so it shows no money figures.
The ads
14 ads, newest first.
Showing the 2 ads paid for by Gary Cordery for Governor. Show all 14 ads
Paid for by Gary Cordery for Governorfrom 2026-10-07spend $0–9925,000–29,999 impressions
Hawai‘i is the most expensive state in America, and the people in charge keep making deals behind closed doors. Gary Cordery will take the tax off your groceries, help local families own a home, and put the People Over Power.
Gary Cordery will take the tax off your groceries, help local families own a home, and put every state dollar online for you to see. People Over Power.
Conspiracy Appeal: The phrase 'making deals behind closed doors' implies hidden, secretive, and sinister coordination by those in power — for example: 'deals behind closed doors'
Glittering Generalities: The slogan 'People Over Power' is a vague, emotionally positive phrase that sounds noble but carries no specific policy meaning — for example: 'People Over Power'
Conspiracy Appeal
Glittering Generalities
Looks up the ad's factual claims in fact-checkers, primary sources and wire reporting. Takes up to a minute.
Paid for by Gary Cordery for Governorfrom 2026-10-07spend $0–994,000–4,999 impressions
A $10, $20, or $30 gift today helps us end corruption and carry Gary across the finish line. We're in the final stretch, and we can't do it without you. No corporate PACs. No insider deals.
Loaded Language: The word 'corruption' is emotionally charged, framing the political contest as a moral crusade against wrongdoing — for example: end corruption and No insider deals.
False Urgency: The phrase 'carry Gary across the finish line' combined with the implied immediacy of a donation request creates artificial time pressure to act now — for example: carry Gary across the finish line and We're in the final stretch, and we can't do it without you.
Appeal to Prejudice: 'No corporate PACs' invokes an in-group identity of grassroots, ordinary people versus powerful corporate interests to build solidarity — for example: No corporate PACs
Loaded Language
False Urgency
Appeal to Prejudice
Looks up the ad's factual claims in fact-checkers, primary sources and wire reporting. Takes up to a minute.
An email when new ads come in from either side or the outside groups: the techniques, the words doing the work, and who paid. And each debate's analysis the morning after. One-click unsubscribe.
An ad is on this page because its own "Paid for by" line is a campaign in this race; or it ran mostly in HI and names a nominee for governor — unless its sponsor is a campaign for some other office (a U.S. Senate or House campaign included), or it also names HI's Senate nominees, in which case it is on the Senate race's page. Ads from outside groups appear alongside the campaigns' own.
The candidates are the ones certified for the November ballot, from the source linked at the top. Governors are state offices, so there are no FEC filings behind this page: no money figures, and outside groups are placed on a side only when they are a campaign or a party committee.
Campaigns run one text as many separate ads. Identical text from the same sponsor is one card here, marked with its number of variants.
A technique is a specific manipulative move in the wording, found by our model and explained in one line. It is not a claim that the ad is false.
Claims are checked when a reader asks: press "Check this ad's claims" on a card. The check runs once and its result is shown to everyone afterwards. The ten ads with the most money behind them in each race are checked ahead of time.
Claim verdicts say what the cited sources say. A verdict that an ad is wrong or misleading is shown only when it cites an established fact-checker or an institutional record — Congress, a federal agency, a court — and its confidence is not low; a weaker one is not shown at all. Each verdict shows what it rests on and how confident it is. If we got one wrong, press Disagree: a verdict that readers dispute and no one defends comes down.
Video ads come from the campaigns' own YouTube channels; the transcript is analyzed. Meta ads are analyzed on their text; their video and images are not, yet.
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