Carol Kazeem, who beat an incumbent in 2022, holds her Pennsylvania seat with a wide margin
The Nigerian-American lawmaker from Chester worked in trauma outreach before entering politics.
Chester — Carol Kazeem, a Nigerian-American Democrat, has kept her seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, defeating the Republican Michael Bannon in District 159 by 12,801 votes to 4,109 in preliminary results.
The district covers part of Delaware County, in the Philadelphia area.
Healthcare before politics
Kazeem, 34, was born in Chester, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Ridley High School in 2010 and later trained in medical coding and as a paralegal. She worked in healthcare for more than 13 years, including as a trauma outreach specialist.
Taking out an incumbent
She entered the legislature the hard way. In May 2022 she beat the sitting Democrat, Brian Kirkland, in the primary, then defeated the Republican Ruth Moton that November. She was sworn in on 3 January 2023, one of eight Nigerian-Americans reported to have won office in that year's midterms.
Source: BBC via Yahoo News, Blueprint, Legit.ng, OsunDefender, Wikipedia, November 2026.
