Getting to know Alani Bankhead, an Independent Candidate for the U.S. Senate
Following her military retirement, she became the International Director of Investigations for the International Justice Mission, leading efforts to protect vulnerable populations around the world. After relocating to Hawaii, she developed and led innovative initiatives including Operation Keiki Shield, which utilized undercover officers posing as children to identify predators, and Operation Shine the Light, focused on locating missing and runaway foster youth. She also partnered with Lulu, a highly specialized digital detection canine trained to locate electronic storage devices used in child exploitation cases. Lulu was the 23rd electronic detection dog deployed in the United States.
Today, she is the co-founder of Mighty Sparrow Coaching and the author of The Least of Us: How Your Imposter Syndrome Points to Your Greatest Power. She shares her life with her husband, Loud Bankhead, a fellow retired special agent, and together they have a daughter, Olivia, who recently celebrated her eighteenth birthday.
Alani's platform emphasizes accountability in Government. She criticized insider trading, kickbacks, and a lack of accountability in Congress. Emphasized direct engagement with constituents as a core duty. She believes in universal healthcare by expanding the existing Tricare military system to civilians, eliminating $800/month premiums and $10,000 deductibles without raising taxes. Proposed reallocating funds from military spending (e.g., $2 billion/day on the Iran conflict) to healthcare. She also supports increasing the capital gains exclusion from $250,000 to $500,000 to incentivize home sales and increase inventory, lowering prices. Offers tax incentives for construction companies building affordable housing. Focused on combating human trafficking and child exploitation; draws on extensive law enforcement experience. Framed the election as a fight between the “Epstein class” (1%) and everyone else. Committed to protecting public lands from exploitation, including a firm stance against AI data centers on public land. One of only two candidates opposing such developments. Supports breaking up agricultural monopolies, creating FDIC-style safety nets for farmers, and addressing the mental health crisis in rural farming communities. Alani also believes every child has a right to quality education using taxpayer dollars and should have access to strong career pathways.