Civil Beat has asked candidates for primary election on Aug 8. to answer a survey about where they stand on various issues and what their priorities will be if elected.

The following comes from Luke Evslin, incumbent Democratic candidate for state House District 16, which includes Wailua, Hanamāʻulu, Kapaia, Līhuʻe, Puhi and a portion of Omao on Kauaʻi.

He will face Republican opponent David Hazlebeck in the general election. Both are running unopposed in the primary.

Go to Civil Beat’s 2026 Elections Guide for general information, and check out the other candidates on Civil Beatʻs 2026 Hawaiʻi Primary Ballot.

Why are you best suited for the job? And why do you want the job?

I was born and raised on Kauaʻi and have lived here nearly my entire life. As a small business owner, I understand the struggles small businesses face. As a father, I know how hard it is to raise a family here. After watching too many friends struggle to afford a home or be forced to leave the island, I went back to school to earn a master’s degree in public administration and have dedicated myself to bringing down the cost of housing and building more connected communities across Kauaʻi.

What is the biggest issue facing your district, and what is the first thing you would do to address it in the first six months after being elected?

The cost of housing, by far — it touches everything else. We can’t diversify the economy if young people can’t afford to take a risk. We can’t fix the teacher shortage if teachers can’t afford a house. We can’t cut emissions while we build homes far from jobs. We don’t have a community if local families can’t afford to stay in Hawai’i. In my first six months I’d work to pass the bills that didn’t pass this year— conveyance tax reform, building code reform, legalizing manufactured housing.

Here’s one question from your constituents: Do you support maintaining a monopoly for interisland shipping?

Young Brothers serves a critical role connecting our islands, and I appreciate their work. But competition is generally good for consumers, and I’d support reasonable efforts to reduce barriers to entry for other shipping companies. The goal should be reliable, affordable interisland shipping — and we shouldn’t assume a single provider is the only way to get there.

What do you think were the most important bills to come out of the 2026 Legislature? What failed that should have passed? What passed that you wish had failed?

Cutting barriers for locals-only housing and letting counties finance infrastructure without raising tax rates were the two most important bills that passed. I wish four more had passed: conveyance tax reform (which would’ve lowered taxes on 95% of home sales while raising $60M a year for DHHL and $40M for infrastructure), legalizing manufactured housing and tiny homes on wheels, and building code reform to cut costs. I have strong concerns about the changes to the solar tax credit.

The 2026 session was also overshadowed by an issue of public trust: $35,000 in the brown paper bag given to an “influential” state lawmaker. What do you think the Legislature needs to do going forward to rebuild public confidence in state government?

The vast majority of legislators I know are hardworking people doing their best for their communities, and I’m not sure how much of the distrust can be solved through policy. But we try — this session we passed first-in-the-nation legislation to undo Citizens United and get corporate money out of our elections. Mostly, though, trust is rebuilt through transparency and responsiveness. I model that with regular social media updates, town halls and being accessible to constituents.

In recent years, Hawai’i has experienced a series of damaging and dangerous weather events that have exposed weaknesses in our planning, preparation and response. What could you as a lawmaker do to help your district be better prepared?

Kauaʻi is no stranger to natural disasters, and we’re used to getting through them together. While every disaster is unique, the one constant is neighbors showing up for each other. Government’s job is to support that and to build smarter. Kauaʻi County’s new wildfire code adds minimal upfront cost but saves significantly through lower insurance and greater resiliency. That should be a model for the state. We should also discourage development in areas threatened by sea level rise.

What would you do in office to address the here and now of climate change? And how would you address the costs to taxpayers, property owners and businesses to adapt?

The climate crisis is the biggest long-term challenge that we face, and we have a moral obligation to move off fossil fuels. The good news is that many climate goals also lower costs and improve daily life. The biggest levers are moving the grid to 100% renewables (cheaper electricity), building homes near jobs (lower gas costs), and making buildings more efficient (use less electricity). Walkable communities cut driving and emissions while lowering the cost of living.

Over 3,000 bills are introduced every session and there is always frantic horsetrading in the final days of session. Do you think there should be a limit on the number of bills introduced to enable more meaningful debate?

The House already limits how many bills each of us can introduce. Because the housing crisis is so vast — and my bill topics range from affordable housing financing to zoning and building code reform to infrastructure investment — I’m always bumping up against that limit. I certainly don’t support lowering it further. That would only reduce my capacity to do the work I was elected to do.

Hawaiʻi lawmakers are often in the dark about how much a piece of legislation will cost because the Aloha State is the only one in the nation that doesn’t require a fiscal analysis for bills. Should lawmakers be forced to put a realistic price tag on the legislation they introduce?

Yes, of course we should do everything we can to know the full cost of a measure before we vote. The House Finance Committee actually piloted a fiscal note option this year, where chairs can request that a note be developed, and I’d support building that out further. It’s important to note that the vast majority of housing bills don’t cost anything to implement and many would actually save homeowners and the state money over time by making it cheaper to build.

There are no term limits for state legislators in Hawaiʻi, so incumbents tend to win. Would you seek to change that? Why or why not?

No. There’s already significant turnover — 27 of the 51 House members have served four years or less. Term limits sound like a check on power, but they do the opposite: they end a legislator’s career right when they become effective, and shift influence toward lobbyists and staff who don’t answer to voters. I’d rather be judged by my constituents every two years. That’s the real term limit.

What would you do to help improve the state’s public school system?

Three things: continued investment toward universal free pre-K, universal free school lunch and addressing the teacher shortage. The shortage is the biggest issue, and it comes back to housing. We can’t keep teachers here if they can’t afford to live here. Solving it means paying teachers what they deserve and bringing down the cost of housing. As a former high school teacher myself, a teacher should be able to afford a home without working a second job.

Hawaiʻi is heavily reliant on tourism. What would you propose to diversify Hawaiʻi’s economy?

It’s imperative that we expand our economy without expanding the number of visitors. That means making it easier for farmers and manufacturers to start and grow businesses, easing restrictions on home-based businesses, and increasing industrial land to support local manufacturing. It also means workforce training in the trades we need to build housing. We can’t attract workers to new industries if there’s nowhere they can afford to live.

An estimated 60% of Hawaiʻi residents are struggling to get by. It’s a problem that reaches far beyond low-income folks and into the middle class, which is disappearing. What would you do to help?

The biggest driver of our cost of living is housing. The neighborhood I grew up in Wailua was once alive with the sounds of kids playing. Now it’s silent — the families priced out. That’s because the government has made it too hard for families to build a home. My job is to make it easier. I’ve introduced and passed bills to legalize two ADUs per lot, eliminate state impact fees, cut county fees for accessory units, fund $20,000 cesspool-to-septic grants, and turn commercial buildings into homes.