Gov. Green appoints labor attorney Ratcliffe to House District 28 seat

Gov. Josh Green has filled the House District 28 vacancy with Michael Covenant “Cov” Ratcliffe, a labor attorney with Kauaʻi ties who was sworn in at the State Capitol on Tuesday. The appointment restores a seat that had been open since Daniel Holt resigned on Feb. 13.

Green’s appointment letter cited Section 17-4(a), Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes, as the authority for the selection. Holt’s departure followed his appointment to serve as special assistant to the chair of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, part of a broader reshuffling that also drew attention to leadership changes around DLNR while Dawn Chang was on medical leave and Ryan Kanaka‘ole had been serving as deputy director.

House District 28 covers Sand Island, Iwilei and Chinatown, with some descriptions also including Kalihi-Pālama. Ratcliffe will serve the remainder of Holt’s original term, which expires in November 2026, giving the district a voice for the final stretch of the legislative session and the coming budget cycle.

For Kauaʻi readers, the appointment matters because Ratcliffe is not just another Honolulu lawmaker. His campaign site says he was born and raised on Kauaʻi and graduated from Kauaʻi High School. He is also the son of a Mexican immigrant, a detail that will likely shape how some voters and advocacy groups read his approach to affordability, civil liberties and working-family issues.

Ratcliffe specializes in labor law and has represented public sector unions, experience that could influence how he approaches workplace rules, wages and public-employee matters that ripple beyond Oʻahu. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that he is a member of the Kalihi-Pālama Neighborhood Board and was admitted to the Hawaiʻi Bar in 2025.

His academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and history from California State University, East Bay, and a juris doctor from the University of Hawaiʻi William S. Richardson School of Law. One source also says he earned a master’s degree from San Francisco State University.

Daniel Holt had represented District 28 since 2016, and the seat’s two-month vacancy ended with Green’s pick. For a district centered on some of Honolulu’s most densely packed neighborhoods, the appointment keeps a labor lawyer with island roots inside the chamber as lawmakers move into decisions that will shape housing pressure, infrastructure, public services and worker policy statewide.