KAILUA-KONA — The Democratic primary in the race for state House District 7 features two seasoned politicians.
Long-time incumbent Cindy Evans is seeking her eighth consecutive term. Opposing her is David Tarnas, who previously served in the state House of representatives and is a former Hawaii County chairman for the Democratic Party.
Evans, who boasts an extensive background of work with nonprofit organizations, has served the district, which includes North and South Kohala and North Kona, since 2002. She ran unopposed in the last two elections.
She functioned as the majority floor leader last session and sits on four House Committees: Energy and Environmental Protection, Legislative Management, Water and Land, and Ocean, Marine Resources and Hawaiian Affairs.
“I have got momentum on a lot of issues and a lot of projects,” said Evans on why she’s the superior choice. “I understand how to build consensus, get agreement and be a very strong voice. I think I am a much stronger voice for this district than David.”
Evans also noted extensive relationships she’s built throughout the House and the Senate, as well as with governor’s office during her 14 years in office.
Tarnas, a 30-year resident of Hawaii Island, served Kona and Kohala in the state house from 1994-1998. During that time, he rose to the position of assistant majority floor leader. He also spent two years chairing the Democratic Party in Hawaii County from 2013-2015, a position he pursued to prepare him for a venture back into state politics.
Tarnas said he remains connected to government leadership in the House, the Senate and the current administration. He added that re-immersing himself in politics after 15 years spent focusing on his family and business has strengthened those connections.
“I was serving the Legislature before Cindy even moved here,” Tarnas said. “People want new leadership — someone who has experience at the Legislature but also experience raising a family, running a business and has a demonstrated ability to take the lead in solving tough conflicts, because we’ve got plenty of them.”
Tarnas believes his time running an environmental planning firm and working as a community and environmental planner helped him develop a skill set to strike a balance between sustainable economic development and environmental conservation.
His road map to a sustainable economy includes promoting local agriculture and aquaculture so Hawaii can produce more of the food it consumes.
“We have only begun to tap ocean science and technology as a potential economic resource,” Tarnas said, adding the ocean can be cultivated responsibly and be essentially ranched. “Hawaii can be a market leader in developing open-ocean aquaculture, producing nutritious food in an environmentally safe manner.”
He’s also an advocate for any type of safe, clean energy production. He said energy independence is key to creating a harmonious relationship between a booming economy that can create the tax revenue to support Big Island infrastructure and a protected environment that keeps Hawaii County beautiful.
“A strong economy does not have to come at the expense of the community or the environment,” Tarnas said.
Evans is also intently focused on economic development and tied it into agricultural production of healthy, locally-grown food. She wants to start with education and is working to fund more Four-H Club programs.
Beyond education and a push for agricultural independence, Evans said she will support policy to tap into the research and innovation economy.
“We can do a lot with the oceans and research there,” she said. “There are a lot of research grants that come in from the federal government and from the private sector. We’ve been trying to encourage the University of Hawaii to take it to the next level — after they do research to develop prototypes. After that, to sell and market their ideas. Then, as a state, we get some intellectual property and some payoff for our professors doing the research and innovation.”
Also high on Evans’ list of priorities is pushing for faster road construction, more alternative energy, better health care and a greater examination of substance abuse problems, particularly among the island’s youth.
Tarnas also mentioned health care as well as substance abuse as pressing issues, although he connected drug and alcohol problems more to what he called the acute crisis of homelessness, one he plans to address immediately if elected.
He said his history of securing funding for Hawaii Island infrastructure speaks for itself, and his legislative record is indicative of the type of representative he will be.
“I wrote a law that set up a management system along near-shore waters of the entire west coast of Hawaii Island, which has now succeeded in bringing back the fish stocks around coral reefs,” Tarnas said. “I led a group of 14 House Democrats who successfully reformed the internal rules of the House to make the system more transparent.”
Tarnas said two issues on which he and Evans differ significantly are her support for gambling, as well as her co-sponsorship of a bill in 2011 to setup a permitting system for operation of nuclear energy generation facilities in Hawaii.
Evans said her work to move communities away from cesspools, create a hunting commission, fund the additions to the Kona International Airport and propel forward plans for a West Hawaii Veterans Center are indicative of the type of work constituents can expect if she is re-elected.
“Over the years as a legislator, I have put a lot of effort into being the best I could be,” Evans said. “I am a full-time legislator.”
The winner of the Democratic nomination will square off in the Nov. 8 general election against Republican Jeffery Coakley, who is running unopposed.
