Samba Baldeh (born September 10, 1971) is a Gambian-American

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

professional, and Democratic politician. He is a member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

, representing the 48th Assembly district since 2021. He is the first

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

member of the

Wisconsin Legislature The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republican ...

. Before his election to the Assembly, he served six years on the

Madison Common Council Madison Common Council is a city council of the legislative branch of the government of the City of Madison in Wisconsin. The Madison Common Council consists of 20 Alderpersons elected from 20 wards who serve two-year terms. The Common Council ...

(city council), and was president of the Council from 2018 to 2019.

Early life and career

Samba Baldeh was born in

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

, in western Africa. He is a member of the Fulani tribe of semi-

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

ic livestock

herder A herder is a pastoral worker responsible for the care and management of a herd or flock of domestic animals, usually on open pasture. It is particularly associated with nomadic or transhumant management of stock, or with common land grazing. ...

s. His family's small village, Shoya, lacks official records, but he believes he was born in 1971. His father died when he was about four years old. There was little formal education in Shoya, which had a population of only about fifty people. The children there were taught

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, the

Koran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing.: ...

, and how to pray. Baldeh later described that curiosity led him to walk the six mile route each day to the "western" school, where he learned to read and speak

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. His family soon consented to him moving to the capital,

Banjul Banjul (,"Banjul"
(US) and ), officially the City of Ba ...

, at age 8 to live with his uncle and continue his education. He attended college at the

University of the Gambia The University of the Gambia (UTG) is an institution of higher education located in Sere Kunda, the largest city in the Gambia. History The campus was founded in 1998 in Kotu-Kanifing, a suburb of Sere Kunda. It was not until March 1999 that t ...

and became involved in protests against the country's dictator,

Yahya Jammeh Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former military officer who was the leader of The Gambia from 1994 to 2017, firstly as chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 199 ...

. His activism brought him to

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, ...

, in 1999 for a Global Meeting of Generations conference. It was there that he met a student coordinator for

Madison Area Technical College Madison Area Technical College (Madison College) is a public technical and community college based in Madison, Wisconsin. It serves students in parts of 12 counties in south-central Wisconsin: Adams, Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jeffers ...

. After the conference, he became convinced that he should further his education in science and technology. He emigrated to

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, in 2000 and earned his

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in 2005. He studied

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

and earned his

associate's degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

from Madison Area Technical College in 2007. After receiving his degree, Baldeh started a small IT consulting business and was employed as a software engineer at the Madison-based

American Family Insurance American Family Insurance, also abbreviated as AmFam, is an American private mutual company that focuses on property, casualty, and auto insurance, and also offers commercial insurance, life, health, and homeowners coverage as well as investmen ...

Political career

In 2015, Baldeh announced he would run for a seat on the Madison Common Council, challenging 8-year incumbent Joe Clausius. Baldeh campaigned on shifting the city's focus from downtown development to increasing services and community space in the city's neighborhoods and strengthening the fabric of the community. In the April 2015 election, Baldeh won a narrow 32 vote victory over Clausius. Baldeh was unopposed seeking reelection in 2017. In April 2018, the common council unanimously elected Baldeh to serve as president for the 2018–2019 term. Baldeh was outspoken after the wave election of 2019 when nearly half of the common council members and the longtime Mayor of Madison,

Paul Soglin Paul R. Soglin (born April 22, 1945) is an American politician and former three-time Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, having served a total of 22 years in that office between 1973 and 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a candidate for Gove ...

, were ousted. He pointed out that such a massive change in personnel might be disruptive until the new members got up to speed, and wanted to refocus attention on one of the major campaign issues, the contentious development of the Judge

Doyle Doyle is a surname of Irish origin. The name is a back-formation from O'Doyle, which is an Anglicisation of the Irish (), meaning "descendant of ''Dubhghall''". There is another possible etymology: the Anglo-Norman surname ''D'Oyley'' with agglut ...

Square project. In January 2020, northern Madison's assembly representative, Melissa Sargent, announced she would forego reelection and would instead run for a newly open seat in the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

. Baldeh was one of four Democrats who entered the

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

to replace her in the

. Baldeh ultimately prevailed in the primary with nearly 50% of the vote. He faced 19-year-old Republican Samuel Anderson in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, and won nearly 80% of the vote in the heavily Democratic district.

Personal life and family

Samba Baldeh was born into the Fulani tribe of semi-

ic livestock

s. His mother still lives in

. Aside from his work and political career, Baldeh has been active with the Kanifing-Madison sister city project, the AIDS Network, the Senegambia Association, and the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Madison. He has also been a member of the boards of the

Young African Leaders Initiative The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) is an initiative of the United States Department of State. It was begun in 2010 by President Barack Obama. YALI is a programme aimed at educating and networking young African leaders with activities inc ...

and the

100 Black Men 100 Black Men of America is a men's civic organization and service club whose stated goal is to educate and empower African-American children and teens. As of 2009 the organization has 110 chapters and more than 10,000 members in different citi ...

of Madison. In 2016, he was a guest of Wisconsin congressman

Mark Pocan Mark William Pocan ( ; born August 14, 1964) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative from Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district since 2013. The district is based in the state capital, Madison. A member of th ...

to President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

2016 State of the Union Address The 2016 State of the Union Address was given by the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, on January 12, 2016, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 114th United States Congress. It ...

. He and his wife, Fatou, were married in 2008. They live on Madison's north side.

Electoral history

Madison City Council (2015, 2019)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 7, 2015 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 2, 2019

Wisconsin Assembly (2020)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Democratic Primary, August 11, 2020 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 2020

References

External links

* *
2020 Campaign website

2015 Campaign website (Archived – April 15, 2015)

48th Assembly District map (2011–2021)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldeh, Samba Living people 1971 births Wisconsin city council members 21st-century American politicians Madison Area Technical College alumni African-American state legislators in Wisconsin African-American Muslims Gambian emigrants to the United States Gambian Muslims 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Muslims from Wisconsin