Former UFC champion BJ Penn has entered the 2026 Hawaii County Council race, filing as a candidate for District 1 even as he faces a pending cri*inal case. In a recent interview on Nā Leo TV’s candidate podcast, Penn sat down with host Makana Waikiki to discuss his motivations, values, and vision for the district.
Penn, who previously ran for governor of Hawaii, says his drive to run comes from a genuine love of the process and a desire to address the island’s most pressing problems.
“I really enjoy it. It’s just really fun. I get to meet a lot of people and you get to kind of look at the problems,” he said.
He describes his guiding values as rooted in honesty, citing a lesson passed down by his father: “Don’t let the cancer of lying and stealing ever enter our family.”
His platform rests on a single diagnosis: the cost of living. Penn argues that nearly every social challenge facing Hawaii, from homelessness to dr*g use to public safety concerns in Puna and Hilo, traces back to that one root issue.
“Hawaii’s got one problem, it’s the highest cost of living in the nation, and everything else is a symptom,” he said.
His proposed solution is equally focused: revive large-scale agriculture along the Hamakua Coast and develop hydroelectric power from the district’s many rivers. Penn envisions transforming the stretch from Wailuku River to Waipio Valley into something resembling the sugarcane era of his childhood, with mango, lychee, avocado, and other crops grown at scale.
“That could be Hawaii’s food basket. Hawaii’s refrigerator right there,” he said.
Penn estimates Hawaii currently imports roughly 90% of its food, and that changing this would directly reduce grocery costs for families. “Couple hundred bucks for a bag of groceries. I really want to try to help with that,” he said.
He also pointed to the hydroelectric potential along District 1’s rivers as a path toward lowering electricity costs, the other major financial burden he identifies for residents.
On youth retention, Penn returns to the same argument. He believes young people leave not only because jobs are scarce but because staying is too expensive.
“You can put more on this side, but this is still here. So now it’s just more traffic, more crowds,” he said, insisting that cutting costs must come before adding opportunities will make any real difference.
When asked about the Hamakua Community Development Plan, Penn admitted he was not familiar with its specifics but said agriculture is something he thinks about constantly and that the district’s fertile land remains far from its potential.
His campaign runs against the backdrop of unresolved legal matters, though Penn did not address them during the interview.
