B.J. Penn has filed paperwork to run for governor of Hawaii.
Last year in October, the Hawaiian UFC Hall of Famer announced that he would run for governor to give Hawaii its freedom back.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life but I would never run from a fight or sell out my people. As soon as I step into Hawaii’s Governor office I will remove All new federal and state mandates that have been hurting our economy, residents, and ‘ohana. We will get the best doctors, medicines, therapies, and health care the world has to offer to fight this pandemic and always keep Hawaii among the safest and healthiest states in the union,” Penn wrote on a Instagram post.
“We will get rid of all vaccine passports. Hawaii will be a vaccinated with Aloha and Unvaccinated with Aloha policy for everyone. Same with the masks. We will follow the constitution to the tee. I am not here to fit in with the other politicians, I am here to get our freedoms back!”
Governor Penn
According to Bloody Elbow, Penn plans to run as a “Republican alongside four other GOP candidates on the ballot, including two businesspersons, a retired U.S. army officer, and a councilmember.”
The candidate plan to replace Democratic Governor David Ige.
The 2020 pandemic significantly impacted Penn and was one of the more prominent factors that caused him to run for governor. The two-division champion spoke out against mask mandates and vaccine restrictions and vowed to lift them if elected.
Bloody Elbow states that “Penn has not updated his gubernatorial goals. His official campaign website does not list any goals, though it invites Hawaiians to ‘join the fight’ and donate to his campaign.” And “his campaign does not appear to have any political direction.”
UFC Hawaii?
Penn did write on Instagram that he would bring Hawaii its first NFL football team and three UFC fights a year if elected governor.