Iranian Americans Win in Elections in California, Washington and New York
A large number of Iranian Americans participated in Tuesday's elections in the US. There were also 12 Iranian Americans on the ballot in State and Local Elections and the following three won seats. The news is sourced from NIPOC (Network of Iranian-American Professionals of Orange County), PAAIA (The Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans) and Kodoom (The Independent Aggregator of Persian News/Events):
In the state of Washington, Cyrus Habib, an Iranian American Democratic state senator from Bellevue, claimed the state lieutenant governor’s office with 56% of the vote, defeating Republican Marty McClendon, a talk-show host and conservative pastor from Gig Harbor. The victory makes Habib the nation’s highest-ranking Iranian-American elected official. An attorney, he lost his eyesight to childhood cancer.
After winning a Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford, Habib attended Yale Law School, where he served as editor of the law review. He returned to Washington following his graduation, and worked at the Seattle-based law firm of Perkins Coie. In 2014, Habib was elected with 65% of the vote to represent the 48th Legislative District in the Washington State Senate. Immediately after his election to the State Senate, Habib was elected Senate Democratic Whip by his fellow Democrats, placing him in one of the top leadership positions in the State Senate. Prior to his 2014 election, Habib served as Representative for Washington's 48th House Legislative District.
During his tenures in the state legislature, Habib has sponsored and helped pass many pieces of legislation, including a 2015 Nowruz resolution which underscores the spirit of Nowruz shared by millions across the globe, including the tens of thousands of Iranian American residents in Washington State.
Ahsha Safai won a seat from District 11 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the most diverse district in San Francisco. Ahsha Safai was born in Iran in 1973. At the age of five, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts with his mother where he later received his bachelor's degree in African American Studies and Political Science from Northeastern University and his master's degree in Urban Studies and City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Ahsha later moved to San Francisco, taking a position with the city's Housing Authority. In 2003, he joined Gavin Newsom's campaign for Mayor and later served as the Deputy Director for the Mayor's Office of Community Development and in the San Francisco Department of Public Works. Since moving to San Francisco, Safai has encouraged Iranian Americans to get involved in local politics and public service. As a field operator for Newsom's first mayoral campaign, Safai has ensured regular meetings between Mayor Newsom and the Iranian American community.
Judge Sabrina Kraus, a first generation American of Persian-Jewish descent, won election as New York City's Civil Court Judge District 6. Kraus was the victor in the September Democratic primary election and was running unopposed in the November general election. Her campaign is endorsed by two of the three Democratic clubs that cover the 76th Assembly District of New York as well as Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-12th/NY). Kraus began her career as a litigator, specializing in Real Estate Litigation. She was a partner at two prestigious law firms in Manhattan, and, after nearly fifteen years in private practice, was appointed in 2006 to the Housing Court. An active member of the legal community, Kraus was elected by her colleagues as President of the Housing Court Judges Association in 2010.
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