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 1 ad paid for by HIRA News - Hawaii Republican Action. Show all 14 ads
Paid for by HIRA News - Hawaii Republican Actionfrom 2026-09-25spend $1,000–1,49940,000–44,999 impressions
PLEASE SHARE FAR AND WIDE: What do you really know about radical extremists Gary Cordery and Daniel Anthony and their dangerous agenda? Their passions are to destroy the melting pot of Hawaii, end statehood, destroy our economy, and replace the US military with communist Chinese and Russian navies at Pearl Harbor. SEE WHAT THE NEWS MEDIA and the Hawaii GOP have been HIDING FROM YOU.
Bandwagon Appeal: The call to 'share far and wide' pressures readers to spread the message through implied social momentum — for example: PLEASE SHARE FAR AND WIDE
Name Calling: The individuals are labeled 'radical extremists' to discredit them without addressing their actual positions — for example: radical extremists Gary Cordery and Daniel Anthony
Loaded Language: Emotionally charged words like 'radical extremists' and 'dangerous agenda' are used to trigger fear and hostility rather than convey facts — for example: radical extremists, dangerous agenda and destroy.
Appeal to Fear: The framing of a 'dangerous agenda' is designed to create anxiety and alarm about these individuals — for example: their dangerous agenda and replace the US military with communist Chinese and Russian navies at Pearl Harbor.
Exaggeration/Hyperbole: Extreme and unverified claims are made that these individuals want to 'destroy' Hawaii's economy and replace the US military with foreign navies, far beyond what evidence could support — for example: destroy the melting pot of Hawaii, destroy our economy
Scapegoating: Two named individuals are blamed for a sweeping set of catastrophic outcomes including economic destruction and military replacement — for example: Their passions are to destroy the melting pot of Hawaii, end statehood, destroy our economy
Conspiracy Appeal: The sentence implies that both the news media and the Hawaii GOP are secretly concealing damaging information from the public — for example: the NEWS MEDIA and the Hawaii GOP have been HIDING FROM YOU
False Urgency: The all-caps imperative 'SEE' combined with the revelation framing creates artificial urgency to act immediately before deliberating — for example: SEE WHAT THE NEWS MEDIA and the Hawaii GOP have been HIDING FROM YOU
Bandwagon Appeal
Name Calling
Loaded Language
Appeal to Fear
Exaggeration/Hyperbole
Scapegoating
Conspiracy Appeal
False Urgency
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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