The only representatives to vote by proxy, meaning another member of the House votes on a representative’s behalf, more often than Kahele this session are Democrats Albio Sires of New Jersey, Lucille Roybal-Allard of California and Al Lawson of Florida.

Kahele’s absence is notable because the three representatives who voted by proxy more often than him are all older, and Sires and Roybal-Allard have said they are retiring at the end of their current terms.

The Civil Beat reported that Kahele is still working a reduced schedule as an airline pilot, his job prior to being elected to Congress, but his office did not provide an explanation for why he hasn’t been to Washington in months.

When Kahele launched his campaign in 2019 to replace Tulsi Gabbard, who was in the 2020 presidential race, he attacked Gabbard for focusing on her political career instead of the responsibilities of representing the district and Hawaii, and said he would do the job differently, the Civil Beat reported.

He cast five votes in person over a span of three days in January, and has since missed President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address and last week’s House Armed Services Committee hearing about the $773 billion requested for the Department of Defense in Biden’s budget, the Civil Beat reported.

Proxy voting, which was introduced as lawmakers were staying away from the Capitol due to the pandemic, has been a point of contention among Democrats and Republicans.

Democrats have argued that it reduces the risk of lawmakers contracting COVID, and Republicans have criticized it, claiming it would send a message to frontline workers for Congress to vote remotely while many Americans worked. That divide is especially evident in the data reported by the Civil Beat showing that of the 15 House members who have voted by proxy the most, 14 are Democrats.

The letter that Congress members have to sign to allow another member to vote for them by proxy says that they are “unable to physically attend proceedings in the House Chamber due to the ongoing public health emergency…”

Representative Ed Case of Hawaii has voted by proxy only 30 times since it was introduced, and has not done so in 2022, according to the Civil Beat. Kahele did so only 49 times prior to December, mostly in March of 2021 when Hawaii was suffering from severe floods.

The Civil Beat reported that Kahele has considered running for governor of Hawaii, and Kahele’s office did not share information with the news outlet a recent schedule to confirm what he has been doing over the last several months.

The two Democrats, Tom Suozzi of New York (118 proxy votes) and Charlie Crist of Florida (107), who have voted by proxy nearly as much as Kahele and the other three Democrats are running for governor in their states, according to Politico.

A spokesperson for Roybal-Allard told Newsweek that the congresswoman was in Washington last week to oversee and participate in virtual meetings, including two hearings for the House Appropriations Subcommittee in which she participated from her office.

She left Washington after the House lifted its mask mandate and several colleagues, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, tested positive for COVID-19, as the spokesperson said Roybal-Allard’s husband is immunocompromised and risks serious illness if he contracts COVID.

Newsweek reached out to Kahele, Sires and Lawson for comment.

Update 4/12/22, 2:42 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with information from a spokesperson for Roybal-Allard.