Zaynab M. Mohamed (born May 4, 1997) is an American politician serving as a member of the Minnesota State Senate since 2023. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), she represents District 63, comprising southeast Minneapolis and parts of Richfield.

Early life and education

Mohamed immigrated with her family at age nine from Somalia to Minneapolis's Powderhorn neighborhood, where she grew up. In 2019, she graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in human resources.

Career

Pre-campaign political activity

Mohamed interned for Ayada Leads, a nonprofit that seeks to support Black immigrant women in political participation. While working as a community advocacy manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minnesota, she advocated for legislation relating to public safety reform, including no-knock warrants. In January 2022, she began working as a policy aide to Jason Chavez, a

Minneapolis City Council The Minneapolis City Council is the lawmaking body of Minneapolis. It consists of 13 members, elected from separate wards to four-year terms, via a ranked-choice method. The council structure has been in place since the 1950s. In recent elections ...

member.

Minnesota State Senate

Patricia Torres Ray, the incumbent senator for District 63, did not run for reelection in 2022. After conversations with Torres Ray and other organizers, Mohamed entered the race, and was endorsed by Torres Ray. The main themes of her campaign were a statewide $15 minimum wage, universal health care, and public safety. After defeating Todd Scott in the primary election to become the DFL nominee, Mohamed won the general election against Republican nominee Shawn Holster. Mohamed joined

Erin Maye Quade Erin Maye Quade (born March 12, 1986) is an American politician from the state of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Party, she served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019. She was the DFL-endorse ...

and

Clare Oumou Verbeten Clare Oumou Verbeten is an American politician serving as a member of the Minnesota Senate for the 66th district since 2023. She and Erin Maye Quade were the first openly LGBTQ women and first Black women elected to the Minnesota Senate. Early ...

as the first Black women elected to the Minnesota Senate. She is also the youngest woman ever elected to serve in the legislature.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohamed, Zaynab Women state legislators in Minnesota Politicians from Minneapolis Living people Minnesota Democrats 1997 births American Muslims Somalian emigrants to the United States American politicians of Somalian descent 21st-century American legislators University of Minnesota alumni 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century Minnesota politicians