MINNEAPOLIS – Tuesday’s elections brought good news to Somali-Americans in Minneapolis and Washington after four candidates won races for public office.

“From January up to now, our situation was good and now we have won the election with the public vote. I am very happy,” Abdi Warsame, who won a seat on the Minneapolis city council, told Voice of America.

Warsame narrowly beat incumbent Mohamud Noor, another Somali-American, 50 percent to 47 percent.

He was elected in 2013 as the first Somali-American to serve in a municipal office.

Also in Minneapolis, Abdulkadir Hassan, a Somali-American, won a seat on the Park and Recreation Board.

In Hopkins, a city west of Minneapolis, Fartun Ahmed won a seat on the Hopkins School Board after securing the endorsements of all three retiring Hopkins School Board members.

In Washington state, Zak Idan became the city of Tukwila’s newest council member, replacing a man who decided not to run after holding the seat for 36 years.

In Iowa, Mazahir Salih was elected as a member of the Iowa at-large city council, becoming the city’s first Sudanese-American immigrant councilor.