Congressman-elect Kai Kahele represents an 'awakened generation' of Native Hawaiians

Kahele was happy as a working pilot, he tells the Guardian, when a family loss turned his life towards politics

Kai Kahele had one ambition growing up in Hawaii, and that was to fly airplanes. He achieved that goal by the age of 19, and was happy working as a military and commercial pilot when a family tragedy propelled him into the world of politics.

Kahele, an indigenous Hawaiian, was appointed to the state senate in 2016 after the sudden death of his father senator Gil Kahele, 73, a progressive stalwart in the Democrat party for over 40 years. Two day before he died, Kahele's father had asked him to consider following in his footsteps.