Raghib Ismail Allie-Brennan (born July 20, 1991) is an American politician and former political aide serving as a member of the

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut State House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an ...

from the 2nd district.

Early life and education

Allie-Brennan was born in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and raised in

Bethel, Connecticut Bethel () is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Its population was 11,988 in 2022 according to World Population Review. The town includes the Bethel (CDP), Connecticut, Bethel Census Designated Place. Inte ...

. His father immigrated to

from

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. After graduating from Bethel High School, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from

Marymount Manhattan College Marymount Manhattan College is a private college on the Upper East Side of New York City. As of 2020, enrollment consists of 1,571 undergraduates with women making up 80.1% and men 19.9% of student enrollment. The college was founded in 1936. Hi ...

Career

After earning his bachelor's degree, Allie-Brennan worked in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

as a congressional advisor in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, specializing in energy and environmental issues, disaster relief, and civil rights legislation. He worked as a legislative aide and advisor to

Alma Adams Alma Shealey Adams (born May 27, 1946) is an American politician who represents North Carolina's 12th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. A Democrat, Adams represented the state's 58th House district in Guilford ...

and as an intern for

Cedric Richmond Cedric Levan Richmond (born September 13, 1973) is an American attorney, politician, and political advisor who served as a Senior Advisor to the President of the United States, senior advisor to the president and director of the Office of Public ...

. He later returned to

, where he became active in local government. In the 2018 election, Allie-Brennan was elected to the

, representing Connecticut's 2nd assembly district. Allie-Brennan succeeded one-term

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

incumbent Will Duff in a rematch after narrowly losing to Duff in the race for the open seat vacated by retiring Republican incumbent

Dan Carter Daniel William Carter (born 5 March 1982) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. Carter played for Crusaders (Super Rugby) in New Zealand and played for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He is the highest point scorer in ...

. He received the 2019 Humane Legislator

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

for introducing legislation to ban pet stores from selling inhumanely bred animals and helped organize an event in support of Danbury Animal Welfare Society at a local pub. During a May 2020 virtual

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

convention, Allie-Brennan was nominated to serve for another term in the

Personal life

Allie-Brennan is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

."More LGBTQ candidates in the running"
''

Connecticut Post The ''Connecticut Post'' is a daily newspaper located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It serves Fairfield County and the Lower Naugatuck Valley. Municipalities in the Post's circulation area include Ansonia, Bridgeport, Darien, Derby, Easton, ...

'', October 6, 2018.

References

Living people Democratic Party members of the Connecticut House of Representatives LGBT state legislators in Connecticut Gay politicians 1991 births Marymount Manhattan College alumni People from Bethel, Connecticut 21st-century American politicians Bethel High School (Connecticut) alumni Politicians from Queens, New York American people of Guyanese descent {{Connecticut-politician-stub