Kaialiʻi Kahele (born March 28, 1974) is an American politician, educator, and commercial pilot serving as the
U.S. representative for
Hawaii's 2nd congressional district. From 2016 to 2020, he served in the
Hawaii Senate from the 1st district. Kahele is a member of the
Democratic Party and the son of the late Hawaii Senate member
Gil Kahele
Gilbert Kahele (May 15, 1942 – January 26, 2016) was an American politician and a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate from January 16, 2011, representing District 1. He was appointed by Governor Neil Abercrombie to fill the vacancy cau ...
.
In January 2019, Kahele announced he would challenge
Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician, United States Army Reserve officer and political commentator who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Gabbard was the fi ...
in Hawaii's 2nd congressional district in 2020, but Gabbard dropped out of the race to focus on her campaign for the
Democratic presidential nomination. Kahele won the congressional nomination on August 8, 2020. He won the
general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
and became the second
Native Hawaiian to serve as a member of Congress representing Hawaii since statehood,
after
Daniel Akaka
Daniel Kahikina Akaka (; September 11, 1924 – April 6, 2018) was an American educator and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from Hawaii from 1990 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), De ...
.
After one term in Congress, Kahele ran for governor in
2022. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by Lieutenant Governor
Josh Green.
Early life and education
Kahele is a Native Hawaiian whose family comes from the small fishing village of
Miloliʻi in
South Kona, where he was born on March 28, 1974. He is the son of Linda Haggberg and Gil Kahele. He graduated from
Hilo High School
Hilo High School is a public, co-educational high school of the Hawaii State Department of Education, and serves grades nine through twelve. Established in 1906, its first class graduated in 1909. Hilo High School is near the Wailuku River in ...
and attended
Hawaiʻi Community College and the
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
The University of Hawaii at Hilo (UH Hilo) is a public university in Hilo, Hawaii. It is one of ten general campuses of the University of Hawaii system. It was founded as Hilo Center at Lyman Hall of the Hilo Boys School in 1945 and was a bran ...
before earning a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in education from the
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1998.
Career
Military service
Kahele is a military and civilian pilot. He is a commissioned officer in the
Hawaii Air National Guard
The Hawaii Air National Guard (HI ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Hawaii, United States of America. It is, along with the Hawaii Army National Guard, an element of the Hawaii National Guard.
As state militia units, the units in th ...
, where he continues to serve as a lieutenant colonel with the 201st Air Mobility Operations Squadron at
Hickam Air Force Base. Kahele is a decorated combat veteran with multiple deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan since 2005. He flew 108 combat sorties, logged 3,075 hours of military flight time, and commanded
C-17
The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two ...
combat missions. Kahele has received numerous awards, including the
Meritorious Service Medal, the
Commendation Medal, the Air Medal for combat missions flown in Afghanistan, the
National Defense Service Medal, the
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal,
Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Hawaii State Active Duty Medal and the
Combat Readiness Medal. He has been named both Pacific Air Forces Guard Officer of the Year and Hawaiʻi Air National Guard Officer of the Year.
Kahele also flies as a civilian pilot for
Hawaiian Airlines, and has served as an adjunct faculty member at the
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
The University of Hawaii at Hilo (UH Hilo) is a public university in Hilo, Hawaii. It is one of ten general campuses of the University of Hawaii system. It was founded as Hilo Center at Lyman Hall of the Hilo Boys School in 1945 and was a bran ...
.
Hawaii State Senate
Kahele was appointed to the 1st district of the
Hawaii Senate on February 16, 2016, after the death of his father,
Gil Kahele
Gilbert Kahele (May 15, 1942 – January 26, 2016) was an American politician and a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate from January 16, 2011, representing District 1. He was appointed by Governor Neil Abercrombie to fill the vacancy cau ...
. Kahele defeated Dennis "Fresh" Onishi in the August 2016 Democratic primary, 57% to 35%, and Libertarian Kimberly Arianoff in the November general election. He won the 2018 general election by a wide margin.
In 2019, Kahele was selected to serve as the Majority Floor Leader in the Senate and as chairman of the Senate Committee on Water and Land. He was a member of the Ways and Means, Hawaiian Affairs and Higher Education committees. During the 19th Annual Western Legislative Academy (WLA), lawmakers from other states elected Kahele as the class president of the
Council of State Governments
The Council of State Governments (CSG) is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization in the United States that serves all three branches of state government.
Founded in 1933 by Colorado state Sen. Henry W. Toll, CSG is a region-based forum that f ...
(CSG) West. He represented the WLA and all alumni as an executive committee member of CSG West.
Kahele has vowed to reform the
University of Hawaii system, declaring that the "system is broken". He introduced SB 1161 in 2017 to freeze tuition until 2027. The bill did not advance. Kahele introduced SB 2329 in 2018 calling for reduction in tuition at UH campuses. The bill has been criticized for reducing the university's ability to manage its finances.
Kahele backed passage and enactment of a measure establishing the Hilo Community Economic Division to pave the way for County and State investment in Hilo and East Hawaii's economic future. He was a key supporter in developing a bachelor of science in commercial aviation program that will commence in the fall of 2019 at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Other legislative priorities for Kahele were
Banyan Drive redevelopment and funding for
rat lungworm disease research. HB 2014 for $1M in research funding related to rat lungworm disease at
UH Hilo was introduced in the Hawaii House but has not advanced.
In 2017, Kahele served as Vice Chair of the Education Committee, Chair of the Higher Education Committee, and member of Housing and Ways and Means Committees.
On December 16, 2020, Kahele resigned from the Hawaii Senate in preparation to assume office in the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2020
In January 2019, Kahele announced his candidacy for the House of Representatives from . Incumbent Representative
Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician, United States Army Reserve officer and political commentator who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Gabbard was the fi ...
, who
had run for president, announced on October 25 that she would not run for another term in Congress. Kahele won the primary election on August 8, 2020, and went on to win the general election by over 30 points.
Tenure
Kahele voted in favor of
impeaching Trump for a second time following the
2021 storming of the United States Capitol. In his first floor speech in Congress, he spoke in favor of impeaching Trump, claiming Trump had violated his oath of office by inciting a “deadly insurrection”. He also said, "our sacred oaths are hollow without accountability".
From February 2021 to April 2022, he cast all 120 votes by proxy while working part-time as a commercial pilot for
Hawaiian Airlines. Two weeks after this was reported, Kahele announced he was retiring from Congress to run for
governor of Hawaii
, insignia = Logo of the Office of the Governor of Hawaii.png
, insigniasize = 110px
, insigniacaption = Gubernatorial logo
, flag = Flag of the Governor of Hawaii.svg
, flagborder = yes
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, image ...
in the
2022 election.
Committee assignments
*
Committee on Armed Services
**
Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
**
Subcommittee on Readiness
*
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives.
History
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure was formerly known as the Committee on Public Works a ...
**
Subcommittee on Aviation
**
Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
Caucus memberships
*
Congressional Progressive Caucus
*
Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus
The Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus was formed by openly gay representatives Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank June 4, 2008, to advance LGBT+ rights. The caucus had 165 members (164 Democrats and one Republican, Jeff Van Drew) in the 11 ...
Electoral history
Personal life
As a member of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa's
Rainbow Warriors NCAA Division I Men's volleyball team, Kahele was voted "most inspirational teammate" by his team in 1997. He and his wife live with their daughters in Hilo, his lifetime home on
Hawai‘i Island.
See also
*
List of Asian Americans and Pacific Islands Americans in the United States Congress
References
External links
Representative Kai Kaheleofficial U.S. House website
Kahele for Congresscampaign website
*
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahele, Kaiali'i
1974 births
Living people
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Hawaii
Hawaii National Guard personnel
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors volleyball players
Democratic Party Hawaii state senators
Asian-American members of the United States House of Representatives
Native Hawaiian politicians
National Guard (United States) officers
People from Hilo, Hawaii
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni
21st-century American politicians
Hawaiian Airlines people