Josh Green (politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by NuclearWarfare (talk | contribs) at 21:12, 12 December 2022 (→‎Early life and education). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about the American politician from Hawaii. For other people with the same name, see Joshua Green.
Josh Green
9th Governor of Hawaii
Assumed office
December 5, 2022
LieutenantSylvia Luke
Preceded byDavid Ige
14th Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii
In office
December 3, 2018 – December 5, 2022
GovernorDavid Ige
Preceded byDoug Chin
Succeeded bySylvia Luke
Member of the Hawaii Senate
from the 3rd district
In office
November 4, 2008 – November 6, 2018
Preceded byPaul Whalen
Succeeded byDru Kanuha
Member of the Hawaii House of Representatives
from the 6th district
In office
November 2, 2004 – November 4, 2008
Preceded byMark Jernigan
Succeeded byDenny Coffman
Personal details
Born
Joshua Booth Green

(1970-02-11) February 11, 1970 (age 54)
Kingston, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Jaime Ushiroda
​
(m. 2006)​
Children2
ResidenceGovernors’ Residence
EducationSwarthmore College (BS)
Pennsylvania State University (MD)

Joshua Booth Green (born February 11, 1970) is an American politician and physician serving as the ninth governor of Hawaii since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 14th lieutenant governor of Hawaii from 2018 to 2022, a member of the Hawaii Senate from 2008 to 2018 and as a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from 2004 to 2008.

Early life and education

Green was born on February 11, 1970, in Kingston, New York.[1] He was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[2] He attended Quaker Valley High School, where he graduated as one of four valedictorians in 1988; as a Quaker Valley student, he was president of the Key Club and played on the school's soccer and tennis teams.[3]

Green received a Bachelor of Science in anthropology from Swarthmore College in 1992 and his Doctor of Medicine from the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center at Pennsylvania State University in 1997.[1][4] He subsequently completed a three-year residency in family medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.[5]

In 2022, Swarthmore College awarded Green an honorary Doctorate of Science.[6]

Medical career

After completing his residency in 2000, Green joined the National Health Service Corps and was stationed in Hawaii as a physician for the Big Island. He practiced family medicine and worked in emergency rooms. At times, he was the only physician in the island's rural areas.[7]

Green has been awarded Physician of the Year by the Hawaii Medical Association twice in his career, first in 2009, and again in 2022 for his leadership and service during the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] He has remained a physician in Hawaii’s rural emergency departments while serving in public office and returns to the Big Island to practice medicine.[9]

Early political career

Hawaii House of Representatives

Green was elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives in 2004. He represented the 6th district, based in a rural area of the western portion of the Big Island. Green served two terms before being elected to the Hawaii Senate in 2008.

Hawaii Senate

Green was first elected to the Hawaii Senate in 2008. He represented the 3rd district, which encompassed the southwestern portion of the Big Island. He was reelected in 2012 and 2014. As a state senator, Green served as majority leader and chaired the Committee on Health and Human Services.

In 2013, Green was honored as "Hawaii Legislator of the Year".[10] He championed the initiative to create an insurance mandate for children with autism via legislation known as Luke's Law. The legislation went into effect on January 1, 2016.

In 2018, Green fought to establish a legal safeguard so that parents with disabilities would no longer have their children taken away from them because of their disabilities. He also led the charge to raise the legal age to obtain tobacco products and electronic cigarettes from 18 to 21, making Hawaii the first state to do so.

Green opted not to run for reelection to the Senate in 2018. He was succeeded by Dru Kanuha, who now serves as majority leader.

Lieutenant governor of Hawaii

Green's official portrait as Lt. Governor

In 2018, Green won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor of Hawaii and was the running mate of incumbent Democratic governor David Ige, who was running for a second term. Ige and Green won the general election on November 6, 2018.[11]

Ige tasked Green with addressing Hawaii's chronic homelessness crisis and called on him to use his background as a physician to address how mental illness and addiction affect Hawaii's homeless population.[12]

In 2019, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, Green led a team of over 75 doctors, nurses and other Hawaii health care workers on an emergency medical mission to Western Samoa. They aided in vaccination efforts against a measles epidemic across the region.[13]

On March 3, 2020, Ige appointed Green as the administration's liaison between the state and healthcare community as it pertains to COVID-19 preparedness and response.[14]

A poll conducted in April 2021 by Hawaii News Now found that Green had a 63% approval rating, with only 17% of voters disapproving of his work as lieutenant governor, while Ige held an approval rating of 22%.[15] It is speculated that Green's visibility throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and background as an emergency room doctor contributed to the difference.[16]

2022 Hawaii gubernatorial campaign

Main article: 2022 Hawaii gubernatorial election

In August 2019, Green announced he was considering a run for governor of Hawaii in the 2022 election.[17] He launched his gubernatorial campaign on February 10, 2022.[18]

Green won the Democratic primary on August 13, 2022; his running mate was Democratic state representative Sylvia Luke. On November 8, 2022, Green won the general election, defeating Republican nominee and former Hawaii Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona in the general election.[19]

Personal life

Green is Jewish.[20] He married Jaime Ushiroda in 2006. The couple met when Ushiroda, a family law expert, was clerking for Suzanne Chun Oakland, who was chair of the State's Human Services committee.[21] They have two children.[22]

Green is a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b "Joshua Green's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  2. ^ "Lieutenant Governor's Biography". ltgov.hawaii.gov. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  3. ^ DiVittorio, Michael (March 25, 2022). "Edgeworth native Josh Green reflects on his roots while running for Hawaiian office". TribLIVE.com. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  4. ^ "Senator Josh Green". Honolulu, Hawaii: Hawaii State Legislature. Archived from the original on September 30, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  5. ^ "From the ER to State Senate and Back - Swarthmore College Bulletin". Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  6. ^ "Law Scholar, Documentarian, Lieutenant Governor, and Ballet Dancer Named 2022 Honorary Degree Recipients". www.swarthmore.edu. April 6, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  7. ^ "Lieutenant Governor's Biography". ltgov.hawaii.gov. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  8. ^ "Lt. Governor Josh Green". Chaminade University of Honolulu. March 29, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  9. ^ Brévart-Demm, Carol (October 2012). "From the ER to State Senate and Back". Swarthmore College Bulletin. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  10. ^ "Law Scholar, Documentarian, Lieutenant Governor, and Ballet Dancer Named 2022 Honorary Degree Recipients". www.swarthmore.edu. April 6, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  11. ^ "Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green wins Democratic primary for governor". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  12. ^ Nakaso, Dan (February 28, 2019). "Lt. Gov. Josh Green targets homelessness". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  13. ^ Consillio, Kristen (December 4, 2019). "Lt. Gov. Josh Green assembles health care workers for emergency medical mission to Samoa". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  14. ^ Ige, David. "Office Of The Governor — News Release — Gov. Ige Designates Lt. Gov. Green As Administration's Covid-19 Healthcare Liaison". Office of the Governor. State of Hawai`i. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  15. ^ "Civil Beat/HNN Poll: Hawaii Voters Really, Really Like Lt. Gov. Josh Green". May 5, 2021.
  16. ^ "Hawaii is hosting its first open governor's race in years. Here's the field so far". Daily Kos. July 16, 2021.
  17. ^ Nagaoka, Ashley (February 24, 2021). "Believe it or not, race to replace Gov. Ige is already taking shape". Hawaii News Now. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
  18. ^ Dayton, Kevin (February 10, 2022). "Lt. Gov. Josh Green Officially Announces His Campaign For Governor". Honolulu Civil Beat. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  19. ^ "Green thanks supporters after decisive primary election win in Democratic race for governor". Hawaii News Now. August 14, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  20. ^ Klug, Lisa (July 20, 2016). "A small island of Judaism in Hawaiian politics - Tiny but stalwart, the Jewish contingent on America's youngest state maintains a unique, and strong, sense of identity". Times of Israel. I was the only Jewish child in my school growing up and people looked to my family to explain Judaism and the High Holidays to them," says Green, who grew up Reform and lives in Kailua-Kona in Hawaii, the Big Island.
  21. ^ Cataluna, Lee. "Hawaii's Next First Lady Brings Career Experience And Life Lessons To The Role". Civil Beat. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  22. ^ "Lieutenant Governor's Biography". ltgov.hawaii.gov. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  23. ^ DiVittorio, Michael (March 25, 2022). "Edgeworth native Josh Green reflects on his roots while running for Hawaiian office". TribLIVE.com. Retrieved November 8, 2022.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Josh Green (politician).
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii
2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Hawaii
2022 		Most recent
Political offices
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii
2018–2022 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of Hawaii
2022–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Vice President Order of precedence of the United States
Within Hawaii 		Succeeded by
Mayor of city
in which event is held
Succeeded by
Preceded byas Governor of Alaska Order of precedence of the United States
Outside Hawaii 		Succeeded byas House Majority Leader
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Josh_Green_(politician)&oldid=1127091164"