More than 80 Muslim candidates won local, state, federal and judicial seats in over 20 states, according to a report from CAIR and the Jetpac Resource Center
By Alejandra Molina
November 14, 2022 at 3:54 p.m. EST
Nabeela Syed made history in this year’s midterms when she defeated a Republican incumbent in Illinois’s 51st District, making her the youngest member of the Illinois General Assembly and among the first Muslims elected to the state legislature.
“It is so important for us to have a seat at the table, for us to have a voice in the legislative process,” Syed, a 23-year-old Indian American who is Muslim, told a local TV news reporter soon after her win. Syed recalled a conversation with a friend who had never expected to see a name like hers on yard signs in their community.
To Syed, candidacies like hers are viable “if people put in the time, the effort and the money,” she said in a podcast series documenting her campaign. Syed and Abdelnasser Rashid became the first Muslims elected to the Illinois legislature.
