HONOLULU, August 12, 2012 – Former Miss Hawaii 2011 and candidate for state House of Representatives Lauren Cheape was unopposed in her state’s Republican primary last night and now advances to a contested general election against Democrat Jake Bradshaw.
Cheape, who is running for Hawaii state House District 45 (Mililani, Schofield, Kunia) was excited, full of patriotic fervor and thrilled at winning her first ever primary election. I had the opportunity to briefly interview her by phone at Hawaii Republican Party headquarters in Honolulu.
Very much on her mind was the possibility of not only winning in November, but also leveraging her success to make a difference for the farmers in her district and the strategic picture of how ameliorate the rising cost of island living.
Danny de Gracia: Lauren, now that you’ve won your first election and are headed to the November General, how do you feel and what’s on your mind right now?
Lauren Cheape: It’s a huge honor for the possibility to represent my district and I’m just so excited because it really is the area where my family has been for hundreds of years now. My father was born and raised in the district, I was born and raised there, and I’m really excited to get the chance to represent the district that raised me.
DDG: That’s awesome! So what would you say the number one thing that you want to accomplish if elected in November?
Cheape: I think the biggest issue that really affects my entire district is the rising cost of living. But I’m also very passionate about is agriculture, and here in Hawaii we ship in about 90 percent of our food, so we are not supporting our local farmers as we should, we’re not producing enough food for our people here in Hawaii, so if there’s a shipping strike or a natural disaster, we only have a week of food supply here. So I’m really passionate about being a voice for the farmers. My family has an egg farm in Wahiawa, so I don’t just support agriculture – I really live it. I’ve been knee deep in manure and I know what it’s like and I know that I can be the unique voice for the farmers here in Hawaii.
DDG: Is there anything you’d like to say to our readers back in D.C.?
We truly live in such a special place here in Hawaii. We’re in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We are so far away from the continental United States but yet we’re still such a part, and we’re so proud to be American and to be our island chain of Hawaii.
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