Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Born in Kingston, New York, on February 11, 1970, Joshua Booth Green grew up in a Jewish family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Quaker Valley High School in 1988 as one of four valedictorians.
He studied anthropology at Swarthmore College, graduating with a B.S. in 1992, received a Doctor of Medicine from Pennsylvania State University's Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in 1997 and completed a family medicine residency at UPMC Shadyside in 2000.
Through the National Health Service Corps he then moved to Hawaii as a physician on the Big Island, practicing family medicine and emergency care in rural areas.
Career
Green won a 2004 election to the Hawaii House of Representatives for the 6th district on the western Big Island and served two terms before winning the 3rd district seat in the Hawaii Senate in 2008.
In the state Senate he was majority leader and led the Committee on Health and Human Services; he backed Luke's Law, which required insurance coverage for children with autism, and led the effort that made Hawaii the first state to raise the legal age for buying tobacco and electronic cigarettes to 21.
In 2018 he secured the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor and was elected on a ticket with Governor David Ige, becoming the 15th lieutenant governor of Hawaii; Ige assigned him to homelessness and, in March 2020, named him liaison to the health care community for the COVID-19 response.
Green won the 2022 governor's race over Republican Duke Aiona, with Sylvia Luke as his running mate, and took office on December 5, 2022, as Hawaii's ninth governor, the first holder of the office born after statehood in 1959.
2026 race
Green is seeking a second term as governor. He secured the Democratic nomination in the August 8, 2026 primary, receiving 88.5% in a four-candidate field. His Republican opponent in the November 3 general election is businessman Gary Cordery, who beat Ken Fujiyama for the Republican nomination with 75.9%.