Deb Kahookele
Deb Kahookele ran for election to the Long Beach City Council to represent District 1 in California. Kahookele lost in the primary on June 2, 2026.
Kahookele completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Deb Kahookele earned a high school diploma from Carson High School and earned a bachelor's degree from the California State University, Long Beach in 1995. Kahookele's career experience includes working as a small business owner.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: City elections in Long Beach, California (2026)
General election
The general election scheduled for November 3, 2026, was canceled.
Nonpartisan primary
Nonpartisan primary election for Long Beach City Council District 1
The following candidates ran in the primary for Long Beach City Council District 1 on June 2, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mary Zendejas (Nonpartisan) | 50.2 | 3,678 |
 | Anthony Bryson (Nonpartisan)  | 17.7 | 1,300 | |
 | Deb Kahookele (Nonpartisan) | 12.8 | 939 | |
 | Tamika Wagner-Osio (Nonpartisan) | 12.0 | 882 | |
 | Brock Goleman (Nonpartisan) | 3.8 | 277 | |
| Lori Logan (Nonpartisan) | 3.4 | 249 | ||
| Total votes: 7,325 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
To view Kahookele's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. To send us an endorsement, click here.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Deb Kahookele completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Kahookele's responses.
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I earned my B.S. at CSULB, double major in Operations Mgmt & Mgmt. This shapes how I solve problems, focused on efficiency, accountability, and measurable results.
Professionally, I’ve worked across industries, from a union grocery worker with 12 yrs vested in UFCW, Regional Project Mgr, Sr. Operations Mgr, and Sr. Loan Officer. Today, as a Residential Realtor, I work directly with residents, giving me firsthand insight into housing challenges, economic pressures, and the realities people face every day.
Born on an Army base, I come from a military family. I was a caregiver for both my mother, who passed from dementia, and my sister, a cancer survivor with a lifelong learning disability. These experiences give me a strong understanding of the needs of our senior and disability communities.
For over a decade, I’ve served in leadership roles across local nonprofits, including LB Day Nursery, LB Rotary Club, LB Pride, and Harvey Milk Selection Committee. Co-Founder of One Step Away 501c3, focused on homelessness prevention. As President of Promenade Area Residents Assoc. since 2012, I’ve worked with residents and businesses to improve safety and deliver results, including helping bring the first playground to Downtown Promenade Square Park.
I don't just talk about solutions, I’ve been delivering them.- Public safety is my top priority and I will make it measurable and visible. I will call for an audit of police overtime and deployment, require monthly hotspot reporting, and expand non-sworn response teams so officers can focus on serious crime. Support more visible patrols during late-night hours when crime impacts small businesses most, enforce the laws already on the books, and address ongoing safety issues tied to the Metro end-of-line.
I will tackle years of neglected parking issues by pursuing a Parking Commission to deliver real, enforceable solutions, including permit reform, better enforcement, and neighborhood strategies.
I will prioritize lighting, overdue infrastructure repairs and activate public spaces to deter crime. - I will reset how we handle homelessness with accountability. Push for independent audits of all homelessness spending and shelter operations, require public reporting on outcomes, and fix safety issues inside shelters so people feel safe to accept help because if they don’t feel safe in our shelters they will remain on the streets. Call for a review of City Housing Bureau leadership to ensure accountability for ongoing failures and investigations. Prioritize prevention to stop people from becoming homeless, expand programs with long-term follow-up to prevent relapse. Support solutions across the city, our unhoused population have diverse needs, no one-size-fits-all approach. Homelessness should not be an industry to profit from.
- I will bring real financial accountability to City Hall. I will agendize a mid-year budget review, require department-level performance metrics tied to funding, and push contract reviews to eliminate waste. Ask for city bids to be made public. Ask for simple language for Council agenda so everyone can understand it. I will request a review to fast-track infrastructure repairs, especially in underserved neighborhoods. I will support programs that help immigrant youth access to safe rides to school and the technology needed to continue their education at home if needed. I will NOT support new taxes until current funds are proven effective. If programs are failing within a year or sooner, I will push to fix them or replace them.
I support data-driven deployment in crime hotspots to deter theft and illicit activity.
I will evaluate overtime, improve dispatch prioritization, increase officer retention and ensure consistent patrol coverage.
I support using supplemental resources, including community responders, mobile crisis teams and volunteers to maximize staffing and keep officers focused on emergencies.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Kahookele's campaign website stated the following:
DEB'S PLATFORM
CAN YOU GIVE SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF PROJECTS YOU WOULD PRIORITIZE?
“Safety is a major concern. We need more visible patrols, especially in neighborhoods like Willmore. Visual presence deters crime, and, currently, there’s not enough being done in the evenings. Additionally, the cleanliness of our streets and sidewalks is crucial. People should be able to walk without looking down to avoid stepping in something unpleasant. We need community involvement in keeping our streets clean and safe.”
WHAT'S YOUR POSITION ON THE HOMELESS?
“Homelessness is a complex issue that involves not just the city but also the state and national levels. There are ways to minimize it, but it requires starting somewhere and taking steps that might be tough but necessary. We need to help those who want help and find humane solutions for those who don’t.”
“We need more visible patrols. Visual presence deters crime, and currently, there’s not enough being done.”
“The cleanliness of our streets and sidewalks is crucial. People should be able to walk without looking down to avoid stepping in something unpleasant. We need community involvement in keeping our streets clean and safe.”
“There are homeless who want help and will take help. There are homeless who really don’t want help. They never want help; they’re lifers. We need to recognize these differences and tailor our solutions accordingly.”
“We can work toward the goal of housing for all homeless, but we need achievable, short term goals we can implement now to remove them from the streets and into safer spaces.”
“We need to address these concerns directly to restore trust and pride in our community, and that includes finding humane and effective solutions for our unhoused population.”
DO YOU THINK THERE CAN BE A DOWNTOWN WITHOUT HOMELESS?
“I believe we can drastically improve the situation. Homelessness is a complex issue that involves not just the city but also the state and national levels. There are ways to minimize it, but it requires starting somewhere and taking steps that might be tough but necessary. We need to help those who want help and find humane solutions for those who don’t.”
HOW WOULD YOU PRIORITIZE THE LIMITED FUNDS FOR COMMUNITY PROJECTS?
“It’s about prioritizing based on the urgency of needs and the available budget. If there’s no budget for a necessary project, we can find ways to raise funds. Building coalitions with private organizations and businesses, through community efforts, and utilizing out of the box thinking. It’s important not to stop at budget constraints but to find creative solutions to fund essential projects.”
“This is how I led the charge with community groups, and raised over $130,000 to build a playground at Promenade Square Park. It is possible to make big dreams happen, even with limited budgets.”
— Deb Kahookele's campaign website (April 6, 2026)
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 29, 2026
