Josh Green Bio
Joshua Booth Green (born February 11, 1970) is an American physician and politician serving as the ninth governor of Hawaii since December 5, 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as Hawaii’s 15th lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022 and represented the Big Island in the state legislature from 2004 to 2018. Trained as a family physician, Green worked in rural Hawaii as a clinician while also holding elected office, and he gained statewide prominence for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Early Life and Background
Joshua Booth Green was born on February 11, 1970, in Kingston, New York, and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He grew up in a Jewish family, a heritage he has continued to identify with throughout his public life. He attended Quaker Valley High School, where he graduated as one of four valedictorians in 1988. As a student, he served as president of the Key Club and played on the school’s soccer and tennis teams.
Green went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in anthropology from Swarthmore College in 1992, followed by a Doctor of Medicine from the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center at Pennsylvania State University in 1997. He then completed a residency in family medicine at UPMC Shadyside in 2000. In 2022, Swarthmore College awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Science in recognition of his contributions to public health and public service.
Path to US Politics
After finishing his medical training, Green joined the National Health Service Corps and was stationed on Hawaii’s Big Island, where he practiced family medicine and worked in emergency rooms. At times, he was the only physician serving the island’s rural areas, an experience that shaped his understanding of healthcare access in underserved communities. Even after entering politics, he continued working weekend shifts in rural emergency departments while serving as a state senator.
His clinical work in rural Hawaii drew him into advocacy for public health, affordable housing, and homelessness, issues that defined his early campaigns. In 2004, he won a seat in the Hawaii House of Representatives, representing the 6th district on the Big Island. Two terms later, in 2008, he was elected to the Hawaii Senate, representing the 3rd district and steadily building a record on health and human services policy.
Josh Green Career
Early Career (2004–2018)
Joshua Booth Green was first elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives in 2004, representing a rural district on the western portion of the Big Island. He served two terms in the House before winning a seat in the Hawaii Senate in 2008, where he represented the 3rd district. In the Senate, he was reelected in 2012 and 2014, eventually serving as majority leader and chairing the Committee on Health and Human Services.
During this period, Green earned recognition for his legislative work, including being honored as Hawaii Legislator of the Year in 2013. He championed Luke’s Law, which created an insurance mandate for children with autism and went into effect on January 1, 2016. He also led efforts to raise the legal age to obtain tobacco products and electronic cigarettes from 18 to 21, making Hawaii the first U.S. state to enact that change.
Lieutenant Governor Breakthrough (2018–2022)
Green won the 2018 Democratic primary for lieutenant governor of Hawaii and joined the ticket of incumbent Governor David Ige. Ige and Green won the general election on November 6, 2018, and Green was sworn in as the 15th lieutenant governor of Hawaii. Governor Ige tasked him with addressing Hawaii’s chronic homelessness crisis and with applying his medical background to issues of mental illness and addiction among the homeless population.
Green’s profile rose sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic. In early 2020, Governor Ige appointed him as the administration’s liaison between the state and the healthcare community for pandemic preparedness and response. By April 2021, a Hawaii News Now poll found Green holding a 63 percent approval rating, compared with 22 percent for Ige, reflecting his visibility as a physician-leader during the crisis. He also led a 2019 emergency medical mission to Samoa, where a team of more than 75 Hawaii healthcare workers assisted with vaccination efforts during a regional measles epidemic.
Governorship of Hawaii (2022–Present)
Joshua Booth Green announced his candidacy for governor of Hawaii in February 2022 and won the Democratic primary on August 13, 2022, with state representative Sylvia Luke as his running mate. On November 8, 2022, he won the general election, defeating Republican nominee and former Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona. He was inaugurated as the ninth governor of Hawaii on December 5, 2022, succeeding David Ige and using his inaugural address to emphasize unity and pledges to address the rising cost of living.
As governor, Green has signed major legislation on healthcare, housing, gun safety, and abortion access. In 2023, he signed laws expanding abortion access and protecting healthcare providers from out-of-state prosecution, along with firearms legislation that prohibited guns in sensitive locations such as hospitals, beaches, and theaters, and required active shooter training in schools. In 2024, he signed 253 bills, including a measure exempting Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE medical services from Hawaii’s General Excise Tax and a package of 22 healthcare bills expanding mental health crisis intervention and Native Hawaiian health resources. He also issued an emergency proclamation in July 2023 aimed at streamlining construction of 50,000 housing units.
Notable Events and Milestones
Joshua Booth Green’s career has been marked by a series of firsts, including helping make Hawaii the first U.S. state to raise the tobacco purchase age to 21, leading a 2019 medical mission to Samoa during a measles outbreak, and being elected as the ninth governor of Hawaii in 2022. He has also been twice honored as Physician of the Year by the Hawaiʻi Medical Association, first in 2009 and again in 2022 for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Josh Green Career Wins
Joshua Booth Green’s political career features a steady run of electoral victories across the Hawaii House, the Hawaii Senate, the lieutenant governorship, and the governorship, combined with major legislative and professional honors. His wins reflect consistent support from Big Island voters and, more recently, from Hawaii voters statewide.
Electoral Highlights
Green was first elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives in 2004 and reelected in 2006, serving two terms in the 6th district. He was then elected to the Hawaii Senate in 2008 and reelected in 2012 and 2014. In 2018, he won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor and the general election alongside Governor David Ige, and in 2022 he won both the Democratic primary and the general election for governor, defeating Duke Aiona.
Other Wins and Achievements
Beyond electoral victories, Green has earned repeated recognition for his medical and public service. He was named Physician of the Year by the Hawaiʻi Medical Association in 2009 and again in 2022, and was honored as Hawaii Legislator of the Year in 2013. Swarthmore College awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Science in 2022.
Josh Green Family
Family Background and Personal Life
Joshua Booth Green was born into a Jewish family in Kingston, New York, and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, experiences that shaped his early path toward medicine and public service. He has been a practicing physician throughout his political career, an unusual combination that has become a defining feature of his public identity.
Green married Jaime Ushiroda in 2006. The couple met when Ushiroda, a family law expert, was clerking for Suzanne Chun Oakland, who was chair of Hawaii’s Human Services committee. They have two children together. Green is also a well-known fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.