A 23-year-old Indian-American Muslim woman Nabeela Syed, the candidate of the Democratic Party, has won a significant victory in the United States (US) mid-term elections.
Nabeela has written history as the youngest representative to have won the election for the 51st House district of the Illinois state legislature in US.
On Wednesday, Nabeela took to Twitter and shared her happiness of being elected to the General Assembly as a representative of the Democratic party.
“My name is Nabeela Syed. I’m a 23-year old Muslim, Indian-American woman. We just flipped a Republican-held suburban district,” she tweeted.
She further wrote, I will be the youngest member of the Illinois General Assembly.
Nabeela took to Instagram and wrote, “When I announced for State Representative, I made it a mission to genuinely engage in conversation with people – to give them a reason to get involved in our democracy and hope for better leadership that represents their values. We won this race because we engaged in that conversation.”
“We talked to seniors about the rising cost of prescription drugs. We talked to working families about the growing burden of property taxes. We talked to women, pledging that I would protect their right to reproductive healthcare. We spoke with parents about their desire to strengthen commonsense gun safety laws,” she adds.
Nabeela continues, “We won this race because the people of the 51st District want a representative who is ready to fight for them and their families.”
“I knocked every door in this district. Tomorrow, I start knocking them again to thank them for placing their trust in me. I’m ready to get to work,” she added.
In June 2022, Nabeela Syed had won the Democratic primary and has now flipped a Republican district against incumbent Chris Bos.
Syed, who becomes the first South Asian in the Illinois state legislature, will also be the youngest member of the state assembly.
Born and raised in Illinois, Nabeela Syed graduated from the University of California with a degree in Political Science.
In her election manifesto, Nabeela Syed has promised to consider and address public issues such as equal rights, health care, education and taxation.
According to her website, Syed is running “to build a better Illinois for residents today and tomorrow – an Illinois with a strong economy, sustainable infrastructure, and affordable healthcare, and higher education.”
Syed currently works for a non-profit, helping them in digital strategy and supporting a myriad of civic engagement initiatives, for example, mobilising voters, curbing sexual assault on college campuses, and enhancing gender equity, according to her official website.
Having graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in Political Science and Business, she served as the president of a pro-bono consulting organisation that helped local businesses.
Syed is active in her religious community at the Islamic Society of Northwest Suburbs and advocates interfaith dialogue and aims to empower young Muslim women to lead.
