Oye Owolewa, the pharmacist with roots in Kwara and Osun, wins a seat on the DC Council
After six years as Washington's shadow congressman, he took about 69% of first-choice votes for an at-large seat.
Washington — Oye Owolewa, a pharmacist and the son of Nigerian immigrants, has won an at-large seat on the Council of the District of Columbia.
He took about 69% of first-choice votes, to about 21% for the independent Elissa Silverman, according to The 51st, as reported by Legit.ng.
Boston, Omu Aran and Ilesa
Owolewa was born in Boston in 1989. His father comes from Omu Aran in Kwara State and his mother from Ilesa in Osun State. He is a grandson of the Nigerian lawyer Phoebe Ajayi-Obe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
He went to Boston Latin School and earned a doctorate in pharmacy at Northeastern University in 2014, then worked as a pharmacist in Washington.
From the neighbourhood up
In 2018 he was elected to an advisory neighbourhood commission in Ward 8. In 2020 he won election as the District's shadow representative, a non-voting advocacy role pressing the case for DC statehood, and he was re-elected in 2022 with 83.5% of the vote.
A crowded primary
When Anita Bonds gave up her at-large seat, he entered a crowded Democratic primary and led it in June with 34.4% of first-choice votes, more than twice the 15.6% of his nearest rival, Lisa Raymond. In a city where Democratic nominees usually win, that cleared the biggest hurdle.
Source: Legit.ng, Blueprint, WTOP, Wikipedia, November 2026.
