At least four Nigerian-Americans won their races in Tuesday’s US midterm elections.
Gatekeepers News reports that the same night, the Democratic Party took control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, a serious blow to President Donald Trump in the last two years of his term.
Nigerian-American winners
Will Jawando, whose father is Nigerian, was elected County Executive of Montgomery County, Maryland. He beat Republican Esther Wells with about 78 per cent of the vote. He has served on the county council and will replace Marc Elrich, who could not run again because of term limits.
Junior Ezeonu, 27, won Texas House District 101 without a Republican opponent. He was born in Onitsha, Anambra State, and moved to Texas when he was two. He had earlier beaten the sitting representative, Chris Turner, in the Democratic primary in March. He previously sat on the Grand Prairie City Council and was the city’s youngest mayor pro tempore.
Oye Owolewa won an at-large seat on the Washington, D.C. Council. He is a pharmacist whose parents come from Kwara and Osun states, and he previously served as the district’s shadow representative to Congress.
Carol Kazeem kept her seat in Pennsylvania House District 159. Preliminary results show her beating Republican Mike Bannon 12,801 to 4,109.
In Georgia, Nigerian-born Segun Adeyina was declared the winner in House District 110 against Republican Charles Lollar after leading early in the count. Gabe Okoye, also born in Nigeria, was re-elected unopposed in District 102.
Democrats win both chambers
Democrats won the Senate by picking up Republican-held seats in Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina. In Texas, James Talarico beat Ken Paxton, the party’s first Senate win in the state since 1988.
In the House, NBC News estimated that Democrats would hold about 255 seats, well above the 218 needed for a majority. Hakeem Jeffries is set to become Speaker when the new Congress meets on January 3, which would make him the first Black Speaker in US history.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said in a joint statement: “Today is a great day for America. The American people have spoken and made clear that they want to see an end to the high costs.” They added: “Senate Democrats have just delivered the greatest midterm performance in modern political history… Senate Democrats are in the majority, and we are ready to get to work.” Schumer also told supporters: “Relief is on the way.”
Jeffries posted on X: “Victory for America!”
House Speaker Mike Johnson did not concede but said: “It’s very, very difficult to overcome.” Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas said: “The voters have spoken.”
Senator Bernie Sanders said Democrats “will now control the House and Senate and be able to hold [President Donald] Trump accountable.”
El-Sayed makes history in Michigan
In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed beat Republican Mike Rogers for the seat left open by the retirement of Senator Gary Peters. El-Sayed, 42, is the son of Egyptian immigrants and a former Wayne County health director. He will be the first Muslim to serve in the US Senate.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance both attacked El-Sayed during the campaign. In his victory speech, El-Sayed answered the president directly: “Donald, I know you struggled with my name. So after JD swears me in in January, you can just go on to call me ‘Senator’.”
He added: “We showed that in a battle between the money and the many that the many can win.”
Analysts say voters were frustrated with high prices, the war with Iran and corruption in government. Trump has promised to use his veto to block the Democratic agenda.
