From Mogadishu to Michigan: at least 19 politicians with African roots win in the US midterms

Washington — Politicians whose families come from at least eight African countries won seats across the United States in Tuesday's midterm elections, from the US Senate to state legislatures.

PANM counted at least 19 winners with African roots, using election reports and published biographies. No official tally exists, and the real figure is probably higher, because many state and local races get little coverage. Most results are still unofficial until they are certified.

The US Senate

• Abdul El-Sayed, son of Egyptian immigrants, won Michigan's open seat and will be the first Muslim elected to the Senate.

The US House of Representatives

• Melat Kiros, born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, won in Denver, Colorado. At 29 she is the first Gen Z woman elected to Congress.
• Adrian Boafo, whose parents came from Ghana, won Maryland's 5th District. He succeeds Steny Hoyer, who has held the seat since 1981.
• Adam Hamawy, whose family emigrated from Egypt when he was a baby, won New Jersey's 12th District.
• Ilhan Omar, born in Mogadishu, Somalia, won a fifth term in Minnesota.
• Joe Neguse, son of Eritrean immigrants, was re-elected in Colorado. He is the House's assistant Democratic leader.
• Gabe Amo, son of a Ghanaian father and a Liberian mother, was re-elected in Rhode Island.

City and county government

• Will Jawando, whose father is Nigerian, was elected executive of Montgomery County, Maryland.
• Oye Owolewa, whose parents come from Kwara and Osun states in Nigeria, won an at-large seat on the District of Columbia Council.

State legislatures

• Junior Ezeonu, born in Onitsha, Nigeria: Texas House.
• Carol Kazeem, Nigerian-American: Pennsylvania House.
• Gabe Okoye and Segun Adeyina, both Nigerian-American: Georgia House.
• Huldah Momanyi-Hiltsley, born in Kenya: Minnesota House.
• Abdi Daisane, a Somali American who spent 18 years in a refugee camp in Kenya: Minnesota House, flipping a Republican seat.
• Mohamud Noor, born in Somalia: Minnesota House.
• Esther Agbaje, daughter of Nigerian immigrants: Minnesota House.
• Omar Fateh, son of Somali parents: Minnesota Senate.
• Zaynab Mohamed, born in Somalia: Minnesota Senate.

Different roads

The new members of Congress took different roads. Kiros beat a 15-term incumbent as a first-time candidate. Boafo was the hand-picked successor of the man he once worked for. Hamawy came to politics after a career as a surgeon.

Not every candidate won. Ndidiamaka Okpareke, a Nigerian-American pharmacist and Republican, lost to the Democratic incumbent Melanie Stansbury in New Mexico.

PANM is publishing a profile of each winner's path.

Source: BBC via Yahoo News, Blueprint, Legit.ng, The New Arab, Yen.com.gh, MultiState, MPR News, Albuquerque Journal, November 2026.