Originally from the island of Molokai, Kalua later moved to the island of Maui where he worked as a lawyer. During the monarchy, Kalua served as a member of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Hawaiian legislature, for the districts of Lahaina and Wailuku, Maui. He sat in during the legislative sessions of 1880, 1882, 1884, 1886, and 1890 during the reign of King Kalākaua. In his early political career, he was a leading politician of Independent Party against the governmentally-backed National Party. He and politicians such as Joseph Nāwahī of Hilo and George Washington Pilipō of North Kona joined in forming the native opposition in the house against the king. In the election of 1886, Kalakaua allegedly journeyed to Maui and Hawaii to sway the electorate to vote against these three men. After the king was forced to sign the Bayonet Constitution, in 1887 relinquishing much of his power and disenfranchising many poor Native Hawaiian voters, Kalua became a member National Reform and was elected to the 1890 session as a representative for Wailuku. This party had been established in opposition to the Reform Party, which had forced King Kalākaua to sign the unpopular Bayonet Constitution of 1887. He resigned on September 9, 1890, after a dispute with fellow party member Edward C. MacFarlane. In the next election, he switched party alliance and ran as a Reform candidate in Lahaina but was defeated by National Liberal candidate William Pūnohu White. The monarchy was overthrown on January 17, 1893, by the Committee of Safety, with the support of United States MinisterJohn L. Stevens and the landing of American forces from the USS Boston. The Provisional Government was established until an annexation treaty with the United States could be ratified. During this turbulent time, Kalua joined the side advocating for the annexation of Hawaii to the United States. According to the testimony of Minister Stevens in the Blount Report, "Hon. John W. Kalua, the ablest native lawyer in the islands, years a member of former legislatures, from the important island of Maui, thinks the fall of the Queen and the extinction of the monarchy a boon to Hawaii, and he is for annexation." He was a participant of the Constitutional Convention for the oligarchical Republic of Hawaii, which was established on July 4, 1894, and was one of the five Native Hawaiian signatories of the Republic's constitution. He also was the president of the Annexation Club on Maui. He served as Judge of the Second Circuit Court from September 1, 1894 to April 7, 1904, when he was removed from office by President Roosevelt. During the territorial period, he became a Republican and served on the House of Representative of the Territory of Hawaii from 1920 to 1923. After an illness of several weeks, Kalua died at the Malulani Hospital in Wailuku, on April 8, 1928. He was buried in the Iao Community Cemetery in Wailuku.
