Omar, the Somali-born activist who is a former refugee now a Muslim
Somali-American woman, has been elected to serve as an MP in the US state of
Minnesota, a state which according to the US census has the nation's largest
Somali community of about 50,000. Also in this manner of winning the election,
Omar is made the highest-ranking Somali elected to office in the US.
Celebrating her victory, Ms Omar said she would be the
"voice for the marginalised" in the state parliament, the BBC reports.
"I think I bring the voice of young people. I think I
bring the voice of women in the East African community. I bring the voice of
Muslims. I bring the voice of young mothers looking for opportunities," Minnesota
Public Radio quoted her as saying.
Ms Omar escaped from Somalia with her family at the start of
the civil war when she was eight years old, as also gathered from the BBC.
They lived in a Kenyan refugee camp for four years, before
moving to the US and settling in a Somali-American neighbourhood in Minnesota.
Standing for the DFL coalition, which is affiliated to the
Democratic Party, Ms Omar won a seat to represent District 60B in the state
legislature.
She faced nominal opposition after her Republican opponent
who had withdrawn from the race for family reasons.
During a primary in August she unseated one of the
longest-serving members of the Minnesota legislature.
Minneapolis's Star Tribune newspaper described her as a
"Muslim-American woman who proudly wears the hijab", saying she had
been "suddenly thrust into leadership of a rapidly emerging DFL coalition
that is younger, more urban and more racially and ethnically diverse than at
any time in its history".
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