Although the U.S. did not elect its first female president Tuesday night, one woman still made history.
Former refugee Ilhan Omar, who proudly wears the hijab, became America’s first Somali-American Muslim woman legislator after she claimed a strong victory in the Minnesota House race.
The 34-year-old moved to the U.S. at the age of 12, after four years living in a Kenyan refugee camp following her escape from the Somali civil war, the Star Tribune reports. As well as her political duties, she is director of policy at Women Organizing Women Network—a group that aims to empower all women, particularly first and second generation immigrants, to become engaged citizens and community leaders.
History is made. Ilhan Omar is the next State Representative of Minnesota's District 60B! https://t.co/gGmQrvueTz
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 9, 2016
House Minority Leader Paul Thissen told the Tribune that Omar’s victory “says something important about the future of Minnesota, and what it means to be a Minnesotan.”