I'm running because I believe Hawaiʻi can do better.

My family knows what it’s like to leave Hawaiʻi in search of opportunity, and how hard it can be to find a way back home. Too many local families are still facing that same reality today.

What finally moved me from concern to action was realizing that my dad left Hawaiʻi in 1960 for many of the same reasons local families are still leaving today. And the problem hasn’t gotten better. Over the past 60 years, it has only grown worse. We continue to struggle with housing shortages, aging infrastructure, workforce challenges, and a cost of living that is pushing families out of the islands we love.

Many people don’t realize just how much of our daily lives is shaped by the State Legislature. It makes the laws that determine how our tax dollars are collected and spent, affect the cost of doing business, influence housing and economic development, fund infrastructure and public services, and impact the affordability of life in Hawaiʻi.

As a taxpayer, business owner, and parent, I began asking a simple question: Where is all of our tax money actually going?

Whether the problem is waste, inefficiency, bureaucracy, or corruption, taxpayers deserve answers. Government should be accountable for results. Every dollar spent should be treated with the same care and discipline that families and small businesses apply to their own budgets.

My career has been spent solving complex problems, managing large programs, and building businesses. I'm not running to become a career politician. I'm running because I believe Hawaiʻi needs more people willing to ask hard questions, demand accountability, and focus on results.

If we want to create opportunity for future generations, restore trust in government, and make Hawaiʻi a place where our children and grandchildren can afford to stay and prosper, we need leadership willing to do things differently.

My top priority is restoring accountability to government and ensuring taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely. Hawaiʻi has $20 billion budgetted next year while Rhode Island, a state with a similarly sized population, has a budget of only $8 billion. Why? And even with our enormous annual budget, too many of our most pressing challenges remain unresolved, year after year after year.

My second priority is creating greater economic opportunity for local families. Too many of our children and grandchildren feel they must leave Hawaiʻi to build successful careers. I want to strengthen pathways into the skilled trades, support entrepreneurship and small business growth, and encourage policies that help local businesses succeed.

Third, we need to focus on infrastructure and responsible planning. Infrastructure is essential to economic growth, housing, public safety, and quality of life. However, planning alone is not enough. We need to move projects from studies and reports to actual implementation and measurable outcomes.

Finally, I believe government should support strong families and protect individual freedoms. Parents should have a meaningful voice in their children's education and healthcare decisions, and government should respect the rights and liberties of the people it serves.

These priorities are all connected. When government is accountable, infrastructure is reliable, businesses can grow, and families have the opportunity to build prosperous futures right here in Hawaiʻi.

I bring experience from both corporate and small business. Before opening a small business with my husband here on Kauaʻi, I spent nearly a decade managing complex programs, budgets, and operational challenges for a Fortune 500 corporation. My work required bringing together people with different priorities, identifying root causes of problems, developing practical solutions, and ensuring projects were completed successfully and responsibly.

Those same skills are needed in government. Many of the challenges we face, like housing, infrastructure, workforce development, and cost of living, are complex issues that require critical analysis, collaboration, accountability, and a focus on results.

As a small business owner, I've also experienced firsthand the regulatory and economic challenges local families and entrepreneurs face. I understand how difficult it can be to build something that not only supports a family today, but creates opportunity and generational prosperity for the future. I believe that with accountable leadership, we can do exactly that.

Helping local families stay in Hawaiʻi starts with creating opportunity, but before we can create more opportunity, we need to make sure taxpayer dollars are being spent effectively.

Too often, government measures success by how much money is appropriated rather than by the results that are achieved. I have watched project after project receive funding for studies, planning efforts, consultants, and reports, only to see years—or even decades—pass with little meaningful progress on the underlying issue.

As a business owner and former corporate program manager, I believe accountability matters. Before asking taxpayers for more money, we should understand where existing funds are going, what outcomes they are producing, and whether those investments are actually solving problems.

That means greater transparency, stronger oversight, and a focus on measurable results. It means moving projects from planning to execution. It means investing in infrastructure, workforce development, skilled trades, and economic opportunity in ways that produce tangible benefits for local families.

If we want our children and grandchildren to stay in Hawaiʻi, we need a government that delivers results, not just reports. My goal is to help create an environment where local families can build careers, raise families, purchase homes, and prosper right here in the islands.

My faith teaches me that leadership is service. It reminds me that every person has inherent value and deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, even when we disagree.

It also shapes how I approach responsibility and accountability. I believe we are called to be good stewards of what has been entrusted to us, whether that is our families, our businesses, our communities, or taxpayer dollars. That principle of stewardship has influenced both my professional career and my public service.

My faith does not mean I will agree with everyone, nor do I expect everyone to share my beliefs. But it does mean I will strive to lead with integrity, humility, compassion, and a servant's heart. At the end of the day, I believe elected officials should remember that they are there to serve the people, not themselves.

Representative Morikawa has worked hard to secure funding for infrastructure and community projects throughout our district, and many residents appreciate those efforts. Funding for roads, public facilities, healthcare infrastructure, and community investments has been a significant focus of her tenure.

Where I differ is in my focus on accountability, fiscal stewardship, and economic opportunity.

My background is not in politics. Before opening a small business on Kauaʻi with my husband, I spent nearly a decade managing complex programs and operational challenges in the corporate world. My experience has taught me that success is not measured by how much money is spent, but by the results that money produces.

Hawaiʻi spends nearly $20 billion each year, yet families continue to struggle with housing costs, workforce shortages, infrastructure challenges, and the high cost of living. I believe taxpayers deserve greater transparency, stronger accountability, and a government that measures outcomes as carefully as it measures spending.

I also hold different views on several important issues, including the sanctity of life, parental rights, medical freedom, and the proper role of government in our daily lives. Voters deserve a choice, and I believe my campaign offers a different vision for the future of our community.

Ultimately, I am not running against a person. I am running because I believe Hawaiʻi can do better, and because I want future generations of local families to have the opportunity to live, work, and prosper here.

No, but I am hānai to a local Kauaʻi family whose roots on Kauaʻi trace back to the late 1800s. My dad was one of the countless sons and daughters who left Hawaiʻi in search of greater opportunity. While away, he met and married my mom and adopted me when I was five years old. Although my family lived elsewhere for much of my childhood, I spent every summer on Kauaʻi and remained closely connected to our ʻohana here.

When my dad finally reached retirement, he was able to return home to Kauaʻi full-time. From then on, I brought my own children home each summer to spend time with their grandpa and stay connected to our family roots. As he grew older, I returned home to care for him full-time and reconnect more deeply with the community that had always been part of my life.

This community has been part of my life for as long as I can remember, and Kauaʻi is the place I am grateful to call home.