The state of Minnesota had a historic moment Tuesday night and multiplied it by three when Democrats elected three Black women to the state Senate. For the first time in 164 years, Zaynab Mohamed, Clare Oumou Verbeten and Erin Maye Quade will represent the Gopher State in the upcoming year.
According to the Sahan Journal, Mohamed, is a Minneapolis resident and former policy aide, received 86 percent of the vote with 97 percent of precincts reporting. She won in Senate District 63, which includes parts of south Minneapolis, Richfield, and Fort Snelling.
At just 25, she is also the youngest woman elected to the state Senate. Mohamed is the second Gen-Z elected during this midterm to Florida’s Maxwell Alejandro Frost. Frost was the first elected member to represent their generation.
The Somali-born organizer grew up in south Minneapolis. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2019.
“I’ve walked the halls of the Senate for the past year-and-a-half lobbying for bills, and I never saw myself in there. There’s not a single Black woman,” Zaynab told Sahan Journal before her election run. “We don’t have representation in the Senate.”
The Gen-Z hijabi celebrated her win in a tweet. “Young people, Black and Brown people, Indigenous people, and women made this happen. This is your victory. #EasierNotHarder”
Former equity manager, Clare Oumou Verbeten, will represent Roseville and Lauderdale, Falcon Heights, and parts of St. Paul.
Maye Quade, former state representative, will return to the state legislature, as a senator representing Apple Valley, Rosemount, and the southeastern part of Eagan.