David Tarnas

David Anthony Tarnas is an American politician who is currently the Hawaii state representative in Hawaii's 8th district. Tarnas first served as the State Representative for Kohala and Kona from 1994-1998.^[3] After a 20 year break from politics, he won the 7th district seat by defeating incumbent Democrat Cindy Evans in a primary election, going on to win the general election.^[4] He previously ran in a primary against Evans for the same seat in 2016, losing that primary 52.1% to 47.9%.^[5] He has since won the Democratic primary and general elections in 2020 and 2022, chairing the Water, Land & Hawaiian Affairs Committee from 2021-2022.^[6] and the Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs Committee in 2023.

David Tarnas
Tarnas in 2023
Member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from the 8th district 7th (2018–2022)
Incumbent
Assumed office November 6, 2018
Preceded by	Cindy Evans
Member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from the 6th district
In office 1994–1998
Preceded by	Larry Tanimoto
Succeeded by	Jim Rath
Personal details
Born	1960 or 1961 (age 63–64)[1]
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Kamuela, Hawaii[2]
Alma mater	Kalamazoo College and University of Washington

Tarnas holds a master's degree in marine affairs from the University of Washington (1985) and a bachelor's degree in political science from Kalamazoo College (1982).^[7]