Key points
- Four politicians of Bangladeshi origin won seats in the legislatures of Georgia, Connecticut, New Hampshire and North Carolina.
- According to early figures, at least seven Muslims were elected to the US Congress: a record.
- Abdul El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, will be the country’s first Muslim senator.
- The number of elected officials of Indian and South Asian origin is also growing, in Congress and in the states.
The midterm elections on 3 November, won by the Democratic Party in both the House and the Senate (read our article), brought many immigrant candidates and children of immigrants into American institutions. For the Bangladeshi community it is a day to remember: four politicians with roots in Bangladesh won seats in state legislatures.
The four winners of Bangladeshi origin
- Sheikh Rahman (Democrat), state senator in Georgia for District 5, now in his fifth term: first elected in 2018, he was unopposed this year. His family comes from Kishoreganj.
- Masudur Rahman (Democrat), state senator in Connecticut for District 4, now in his third term. He is from Hajiganj, in Chandpur district.
- Aboul Khan (Republican), member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, now in his seventh term. He is from Pirojpur.
- Haseeb Fatmi (Democrat), elected to the North Carolina Senate for District 18, where he had taken his seat in May after his predecessor resigned. According to bdnews24, his family comes from Gazipur.
They come from different parties: three Democrats and one Republican. Virginia also has a state senator of Bangladeshi origin, Saddam Azlan Salim, who was not on the ballot this year.
A record number of Muslims in Congress
According to early counts, at least seven Muslims were elected to Congress, the highest number ever. Besides Abdul El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants and the first Muslim elected to the Senate, Ilhan Omar (Minnesota), Rashida Tlaib (Michigan) and André Carson (Indiana) were re-elected to the House. Surgeon Adam Hamawy becomes the first Muslim elected to Congress from New Jersey. In the states, Nabeela Syed won an Illinois Senate seat and Ruwa Romman was elected to the Georgia Senate.
Winners of Indian origin
Pramila Jayapal (Washington), Ro Khanna and Ami Bera (California) and Suhas Subramanyam (Virginia) were re-elected to the House, while Pia Dandiya enters Congress for Florida. In Maryland, India-born Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller was re-elected: she is the first immigrant elected to statewide office in that state.
Why it matters
These results show how much immigrant communities now take part in American politics, not only as voters but as candidates. For people living in Italy it is an example of participation: here too foreign residents can join parties and associations and, once they become citizens, stand for election. The results become official once each state certifies them.
