In his first year in Congress, U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele had others cast votes on his behalf 92 times, compared with 11 for the state’s other U.S. House delegate, Rep. Ed Case.

The Ripon Society, a Republican public policy organization and think tank, first reported Kahele is among Democratic representatives who overwhelmingly took advantage of the practice of proxy voting, or having another House member cast votes in their name. The Ripon Society said that in 2021, nearly 90% of House Democrats voted by proxy, with 15 casting more than 200 proxy votes apiece; by comparison, about 64% of Republican House members voted by proxy, with none doing so more than 160 times, according to The Ripon Society.

The online news service Civil Beat subsequently reported this week that so far in 2022 Kahele has cast 120 votes by proxy and only five in person.

Kahele spokesperson Michael Ahn wrote in an email to the Honolulu Star- Advertiser that Kahele is reducing travel to and from Hilo and Washington because of COVID-19 concerns.

“Congressman Kahele lives in a multigenerational home. While variants of COVID-19 continue to spread, the Congressman remains concerned for the health and safety of the communities he interacts with as well as the health and safety of members of his own family,” Ahn said. “Just last week members of leadership in the U.S. House and White House contracted the virus. To limit his exposure to COVID-19 and the potential to spread the virus, our office has tried to reduce Congressman Kahele’s cross-country travel.”

The issue of his absenteeism in Washington, D.C., has raised questions about Kahele’s responsibility to voters, particularly because he is a member of two House committees — the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Armed Services Committee — which could play roles in the Navy’s Red Hill contamination of Oahu’s drinking water and the city’s troubled rail project.

Statements made by Kahele earlier this year have raised widepread speculation that he is considering a run for governor in the Aug. 13 Democratic primary election, but Ahn has told the Star-Advertiser that the congressman will not address that speculation.

Colin Moore, director of the University of Hawaii’s Public Policy Center, said Kahele’s proxy voting record could raise eyebrows among some voters in Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District (rural Oahu- neighbor islands) and elsewhere in the islands.

“If he’s planning to run for governor, this’ll be tough to explain,” Moore said. “Voters will ask, ‘Why aren’t you representing us in Washington?’ That is the literal title of the job. Being on a list of people who missed the most (in- person) votes really frustrates your constituents. You can’t do the job of a member of Congress from your district. You’ve got to be in D.C., where you can build coalitions.”

During 2021, a total of six House members cast votes on Kahele’s behalf; two members served as proxy for Case.

Less than two weeks ago, Kahele authorized California Rep. Mark Takano to cast votes in his name, replacing Kahele’s previous proxy voter, Rep. Frank Mrvan of Indiana. Representatives for both Takano and Mrvan did not respond to questions last week regarding how many votes they cast in Kahele’s name and why.

On the national political stage, Kahele’s voting record is likely to become part of a Republican Party narrative “that Democrats are bad,” Moore said.

Locally, Moore said, “voters’ enthusiasm will dampen for him and hurt his image as a charismatic figure and defender of Red Hill.”

In his statement, Ahn said Kahele has not missed a single vote this year. Further, “The Congressman is in compliance with the remote voting-by-proxy regulations” now in place, he said.

Ahn also noted that Kahele “continues to participate in HASC and T&I Committee hearings and maximizes his time back home by engaging with his constituents and addressing their concerns at the federal level.”