Kaialiʻi Kahele Papers

About Kaialiʻi Kahele

Kaialiʻi Kahele represented Hawaiʻi’s second congressional district from 2021 to 2023.

Kahele’s family is from Miloliʻi, a fishing village in South Kona on Hawaiʻi Island. He attended public school on Hawaiʻi Island and graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi, where he also played on the menʻs volleyball team. As a commissioned officer in the Hawaiʻi Air National Guard, Kahele deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he flew cargo aircraft in combat missions. Kahele is also a pilot for Hawaiian Airlines.

In 2016, Governor Neil Abercrombie appointed Kai Kahele to the Hawaiʻi state senate to serve the remaining term of his father, state senator Gill Kahele, who died in office. Kahele won a special election in November 2016, and was re-elected to the state senate in 2018. In January 2019, U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard announced that she was running for U.S. President and would not seek reelection in the second congressional district. Kahele entered the race a week later, and in November 2020, he defeated Republican candidate Joe Akana by a wide margin.

Kahele was sworn in to the U.S. House of Representatives on January 4th, 2021, two days before the January 6 insurrection. He is the second Native Hawaiian to be elected to Congress after Senator Daniel K. Akaka. While in Congress, Kahele served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Armed Services Committee. With other members of the Hawaiʻi delegation, he commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act and pushed the Navy for answers regarding the November 2021 fuel spill at the Red Hill Bulk Storage Facility, affecting 93,000 service members and their families, sickening thousands and threatening Oʻahuʻs aquifer.

In May 2022, Kahele announced that he was running for Governor of Hawaiʻi. He was defeated by Josh Green, a medical doctor who was then lieutenant governor of Hawaiʻi. Kahele was succeeded in Congress by former state senator Jill Tokuda. Since the election, Kahele earned a masterʻs degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College, continued working as a commercial pilot, continued his National Guard service, and taught at UH Hilo. He returned to politics in 2024, when he was elected to the board of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, succeeding former Hawaiʻi Island representative Mililani Trask. The OHA board elected Kahele chair in December 2024.

About the Kaialiʻi Kahele Papers

The Kaialiʻi Kahele papers document Kaheleʻs service during the 117th Congress, from 2021 to 2023. They cover subjects such as the January 6 insurrection, the COVID pandemic, and the Red Hill fuel disaster. The collection is closed to researchers until 10 years after the donor leaves public service, except for speeches, press releases, and newsletters, which are accessible via the finding aid.

Digitized Materials

Portions of the Kaialiʻi Kahele Papers are being digitized and made available online via the collection’s finding aid. Materials that have been digitized so far include

• Public Relations
  • Newsletters (all)
  • Press releases (all)
  • Speeches and statements (all)