By Abbie Llewelyn | Express Online |
A MUSLIM woman has been elected to Congress for the first time, as Palestinian-American Rashida Tlaib takes Michigan’s 13th Congressional District seat in the House of Representatives.
She is set to be followed by fellow Democrat Ilhan Omar in the 5th congressional district in Minnesota, the seat previously held by Keith Ellison, the first Muslim Congressman.
Ms. Tlaib, 42, was born to Palestinian immigrants and was the first muslim women to win a seat on the Michigan Legislature.
She said earlier this year: “You can try to ban us from coming into the country but you can’t ban us from from being elected to the US Congress”
She was running unopposed in the heavily Democrat-leaning seat.
Ms. Omar is Somali-American, whose family fled the country in 1991, and spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya before moving to the United States.
She campaigned on a progressive platform, calling for universal healthcare and tuition-free colleges.
She even pledged to secure a $15 minimum wage, preventing cuts to welfare, such as Medicare and Social Security, as well as stopping tax cuts for big companies.
Meanwhile, Ms. Tlaib is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and on the left wing of the part.
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