As many as three more of Gov. Josh Green’s Cabinet appointees are also likely to face intense scrutiny at their confirmation hearings after Ikaika Anderson withdrew his nomination to lead the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands on Wednesday following a blistering — and sometimes personal — confirmation hearing.

Anderson was the first of Green’s 20 Cabinet appointees to undergo a confirmation hearing — before the state Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs on Tuesday.

In attendance was Dawn Chang, Green’s nominee to lead the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. She saw firsthand how senators roughed up Anderson before voting 4 to 1 not to recommend that the full 25-member Senate confirm him.

At a Capitol press conference Wednesday, Anderson withdrew his nomination “effective immediately.”

“He didn’t want to be a distraction,” Green said. “He’s putting the state first.”

Anderson will continue as acting DHHL chair until Green finds a new nominee, Green said.

Green then spoke directly to Hawaii residents and asked that they implore their senators to treat his Cabinet nominees with respect and “without bullying.”

“We need to change the culture of state government,” Green said. “I am going to continue to stay optimistic and take the high ground no matter what.”

At an earlier news conference, Green announced state Reps. Luke Evslin (D, Lihue-­Wailua) and Trish LaChica (D, Waipio-Mililani) as his selections to replace former state Reps. James Tokioka and Ryan Yamane, whom Green appointed to serve as Cabinet deputy directors.

Both are scheduled to be sworn in on the House floor Tuesday, about a third into the current legislative session.

Some state senators on Wednesday privately told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the current hostility over some of Green’s nominees is surprising veteran senators.

Nineteen more of Green’s Cabinet nominees — plus their deputies — also face their own upcoming Senate confirmation hearings.

“A lot of the nominees are fairly safe picks,” said Colin Moore, director of the University of Hawaii’s Public Policy Center.

But the most contentious are expected to be Chang to lead DLNR; Chris Sadayasu, Green’s choice to run the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism; and Attorney General nominee Anne Lopez.

The incoming directors of DLNR, DBEDT, DHHL and attorney general are right to undergo intense confirmation hearings because their departments touch so much of island life, Moore said.

“DHHL and DLNR are often the most controversial because those nominees are placed in agencies that are highly political and deal with emotionally charged matters,” Moore said. Senators “are going to ask some tough questions.”

A public opposition campaign against Chang already is underway — particularly among Native Hawaiians.

She had worked as a consultant advising Kawaiaha‘o Church leaders on how to avoid a high-level archaeological review by DLNR’s State Historic Preservation Division for a project that disturbed ancient Hawaiian burials to make way for a new building. The project led to protests and legal challenges and was never built.

Sada­yasu irked members of the Senate Ways and Means and Energy, Economic Development and Tourism committees in January when he told them that he was planning to take over procurement for part of the contract from the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, a member of both committees, compared the idea to what DBEDT’s previous director, Mike McCartney, did in canceling two contract awards in the wake of objections from losing bidders and then personally tried to broker a settlement with a split contract that ran afoul of state procurement law.

“I think you’re inserting yourself just like Mike McCartney did without really having good reasoning for that,” Kim (D, Kalihi-Fort Shafter-Red Hill) told Sadayasu.

At Tuesday’s confirmation hearing, Kim took personal aim at Anderson even though she is not a member of the Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs.

Kim announced at the hearing that she had questioned Anderson’s boss at the Mason’s union and suggested Anderson left for being an unreliable employee. She then tangled with Anderson over his short tenure as her aide in the Legislature.

Kim said she fired Anderson after two months. Anderson responded that he wrote Kim a resignation letter after one month.

Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole (D, Kaneohe-Kailua) co-chairs the Legislature’s Native Hawaiian Caucus and voted not to recommend his confirmation.

“While Ikaika is a good person, his evasiveness and unpreparedness before the Senate Committee on Ways and Means were too much to overcome,” he said in a statement following the vote. “His misrepresentation of the commission’s viewpoints on the $600 million plan significantly influenced my decision.”

In a statement Wednesday following Anderson’s withdrawal, Senate President Ron Kouchi said, “I appreciate Ikaika’s willingness to serve and admire his fortitude throughout this process. Best wishes and aloha to Ikaika in his future endeavors.”

Maile Shimabukuro (D, Nanakuli-Waianae-Makaha) chairs the Hawaiian Affairs committee and also voted against Anderson’s confirmation.

In a statement Wednesday she said, “I appreciate the many testifiers who came forward to share their mana‘o regarding Ikaika’s confirmation. He is clearly loved by a wide array of organizations and people, and has accomplished much for the betterment of our state.”

Anderson’s early public defeat for Green leaves open the question of how the executive and legislative branches will work together — or not — over the next four years.

“It indicates the Legislature isn’t afraid of the governor,” Moore said. “Is this an isolated incident — or does it suggest the beginning of a contentious relationship?”

At Wednesday’s appointment of the two new House freshmen, Green appeared side by side with several House members and Speaker Scott Saiki, who said this session’s 18 House freshman are the most in 28 years.

At a second news conference announcing Anderson’s withdrawal, Green repeated his position since the opening day of the Legislature that he has a good relationship with the Legislature — and specifically with Senate President Kouchi.

“I am going to continue to stay optimistic and take the high ground no matter what,” Green said. “… We’re going to go through this in a positive way.”