Chicago, Illinois (Commonwealth Union)_ In the 2022 US midterm elections, a 23-year-old Muslim woman of Indian descent from the Democratic Party, Nabeela Syed, was elected to the Illinois General Assembly. Democrat Nabeela won against incumbent Republican Chris Bos in the recently held election and scripted history as the youngest candidate of the Illinois elections. Following her victory, she took to Twitter to share the news. “My name is Nabeela Syed. I’m a 23-year-old Muslim, Indian-American woman. We just flipped a Republican-held suburban district. And in January, I’ll be the youngest member of the Illinois General Assembly,” she wrote.
In June, Syed was proclaimed the victor against Chelsea Laiberte Barnes in the Democratic primary election. Nabeela graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with degrees in political science and business. She was born in Palatine, Illinois. Syed is involved in her religious community at the Islamic Society of Northwest Suburbs, where she pushes for interfaith communication and encourages young Muslim women to assume leadership roles.
According to her profile, Nabeela has worked with multiple organizations, such as EMILY’s List, to gather funds to elect Democrats to Congress. She also worked as president of a nonprofit consulting group that assisted local companies. At present, she is a digital strategist at a non-profit, assisting with voter mobilization, preventing sexual assault on college premises, and promoting gender equality, among various other civic initiatives. Nabeela also pledged to solve the community’s most vital problems, including healthcare, education, taxation, and equal rights.
During the 2022 midterm elections, several Indian-American candidates were elected to key posts. Currently, there are five Indian descent members in the US House of Representatives. Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna, and Pramila Jayapal held their seats and Shri Thanedar were elected to represent the thirteenth congressional district of Michigan. All five members of the so-called ‘Samosa Caucus of Indian Americans’ belong to the Democratic Party. In addition, Democrat Aruna Miller was elected as Maryland’s lieutenant governor alongside Governor Wes Moore.
