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American Muslim Elected to Virginia House

VIRGINIA – A second American Muslim has been elected to the House of Delegates in Virginia, after receiving 59 percent of the vote in the special election, The Washington Times reported.

Ibraheem Samirah, a Palestinian-American dentist, beat Republican Gregg Nelson and independent Connie Hutchinson for the post, which was left vacant after Democrat Jennifer Boysko was elected to the state Senate in January.

“I don’t want to think of myself as the future by myself because there’s a lot of people that want to be involved in this, but I’m glad to be part of the stepping stones for that,” he said at an election night party, the Loudon Times-Mirror reported.

The voter turnout of 10 percent Tuesday was close to the average for a special election, according to election officials.

“Grassroots is everything,” Samirah said. “Virginia is for voters, and when voters show up, things get done — that’s exactly what happened.”

The first Muslim elected the Virginia General Assembly is Sam Rasoul who was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in January 2014. He represents the 11th District, which is made up of part of the City of Roanoke.

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Last month, Fadwa Hammoud was appointed by Attorney General Dana Nessel as the first ever Muslim Solicitor General in the history of the US.

Muslims made history in the US November mid-term elections.

Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota were both elected as the first Muslim congresswomen.

Other Muslim winners included Assad Akhter who easily defeated Republican Lori Mambelli and was re-elected Passaic County Freeholder, NJ.

Salim Patel, who was initially appointed to the Council following the death of Zaida Polanco in September of this year, confirmed his position with an overwhelming vote total.

Democrat Safiya Wazir, 27, a mother of two who escaped Afghanistan as a child, defeated Republican Dennis Soucy for the seat in New Hampshire.