He graduated from University of Colorado Boulder after serving in ROTC, and also spent five years in the United States Army, rising to the rank of captain.

In 2004, he challenged seven-term Democratic senator Daniel Inouye, securing the Republican nomination but losing the general election with 21 percent of the vote.

He also supports repealing regulations which he regards as burdensome to business, and made the high cost of living in Hawaii a key issue in multiple campaigns.

[2] Davey's photographs include those of Princess Kaiulani on the steps of her home at Ainahou, Hawaii, and the “Lei Makers” in the early years of Honolulu.

He is also a longtime avid canoe paddler and current steersman for a senior master crew, has paddled for Lanikai, Kailua, and Kai One, and has stated that paddling is “rewarding and fun.”[4] Cavasso is a financial advisor with the Mass Mutual Financial Group and the founder and co-owner of Hydroseed Hawaii, LLC, a small business contracting company specializing in hydromulching.

[13] During the campaign, Cavasso contended that Inouye was too liberal for Hawaii, and that the Senator's positions on issues like abortion and gay marriage (both of which he supported) were "out of touch" with what Hawaiians wanted.

[14] He also argued that Inouye had made Hawaii too dependent on federal funding, and promised that if elected, he would seek to position the state as "a technology center and a bridge between Asia and the mainland".

[12] He also voiced support for Bush's tax cuts and invasion of Iraq, both of which Inouye opposed, and the United States PATRIOT Act, which Cavasso indicated in a questionnaire did not "go too far" in his view.

[16] Exit polling by CNN found that Cavasso won a majority among Republicans and self-identified conservatives, as well as losing by only one point among those who strongly approved of Bush's job performance, while significantly trailing Inouye among most other demographics.

[19] Cavasso was regarded as the underdog in the general election, including by the candidate himself; in one television spot to promote his campaign, he jokingly referred to himself as "crazy" for again taking on Inouye, who had served eight terms in the Senate and continued to be widely popular in the state.

[29][30] Cavasso easily won the Republican nomination in the August primary, receiving over 72 percent of the vote and leading his nearest competitor, John P. Roco, by 60 percentage points.

[31] Schatz narrowly won the Democratic primary against Hanabusa, prevailing by under one percentage point and leading to speculation that Hurricane Iselle might have impacted the result.

[31][33] Schatz was widely regarded as the presumptive victor, given the state's heavy Democratic lean as well as polls that showed him leading by between 25 and 50 percentage points.

[39][40][41] In an Associated Press interview following the result, Cavasso said that he hoped that Schatz would work with the Republican majority in the Senate on issues impacting Hawaiians, such as defense and trade.

[46] During the campaign, Cavasso praised President Donald Trump's leadership, particularly in relation to his diplomacy with North Korea and his handling of the economy, and was critical of Hawaii Democrats's behavior during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings.

[46] He also voiced skepticism of man-made climate change and expressed worry that further environmental regulations could increase gasoline prices and hurt Hawaii.

[18] On October 10, 2018, KITV hosted a debate between the two major-party candidates, focusing on congressional handling of the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

[48] The two candidates also both attended a forum hosted by the Grassroots Institute of Hawaii at the Pacific Club, where Cavasso criticized Senator Hirono for her handling of the Kavanaugh allegations, calling her "entirely out of order" for telling men to "shut up and step up" on issues of sexual assault.

[54] He also supports repealing or revising the Jones Act, which regulates international commerce and stipulates that 75 percent of all crew members on shipping vessels must be American, arguing that it contributes to a higher cost of living in the state.

[49] On climate change, Cavasso has claimed that "The science […] is not settled" and voiced concern that environmental regulations could hurt Hawaii's economy.

[3] During his 2014 campaign, he also criticized Schatz for deeming climate change to be the biggest issue facing America, calling the claim "not merely overstating the case", but "environmental hysteria".

[3] He likened climate change activism to the reaction to the 1968 book The Population Bomb, which warned that widespread starvation would soon result from an overpopulated earth.