Somali Magazine – St. Louis Park became the first city in the United States to elect a Somali American mayor on Tuesday.
City Council Member Nadia Mohamed, 27, defeated retired banker Dale A. Anderson in Tuesday’s election, becoming the nation’s first elected Somali American mayor as well as St. Louis Park’s first Black mayor.
“This is a watershed moment. “This is not the destination,” the mayor-elect declared as she thanked her supporters on Tuesday. “As mayor, I want to ensure people see themselves reflected in our policies.”
After she announced victory, supporters flocked to take photographs with her.
Mohamed was elected to an at-large council position in 2019 at the age of 23, making her the St. Louis Park City Council’s youngest member.
State Rep. Deqa Dhalac of South Portland, Maine, became the first Somali American to serve as mayor of an American city in 2021, however she was appointed rather than elected by the city’s six-member council.
Mohamed advocated for increased investment in community policing as well as programmes to make homeownership more affordable. Mayor Jake Spano, who did not run for re-election, endorsed her.
“I wanted to be the last in a long line of all-white mayors in the city,” Spano remarked Tuesday evening. “She’s surrounded by a fantastic team… and a community that will stand beside her.”
Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and state Reps. Larry Kraft of St. Louis Park and Cheryl Youakim of Hopkins all endorsed Mohamed.
Mohamed told fans Tuesday night about her mother’s trip to St. Louis Park, which gave her the confidence to enter politics at such a young age.
“I have watched a courageous woman handle her business every day,” Mohamed went on to say. “That courage comes easy to me now.”
Roslyn Harmon was elected mayor of Golden Valley on Tuesday, barely defeating Council Member Gillian Rosenquist, an attorney. Harmon, the executive director of the Dispute Resolution Centre in St. Paul, will be the city’s first Black mayor.
In Minnetonka, voters rejected a proposed charter amendment that would have repealed ranked-choice voting in municipal elections. Nearly 59% of voters opposed the proposal, while 41% supported it.