Kahlon became politically active in the late 1980s, when he helped Rami Dotan campaign for mayor of Haifa. It was in the context of this election campaign that he met Uzi Landau, who appointed him his Bureau Chief when he became Minister of Public Security in 2001. Kahlon served in this position for a year. Kahlon was first elected to the Knesset in the 2003 elections, and was appointed Deputy Speaker of the Knesset. In the run up to the 2006 elections, he won third place on Likud's list in the party's primaries. He retained his seat again in the 2009 elections after being placed sixth on the Likud list, and was appointed Minister of Communications on 31 March.