Whoa! Could Nadia Mohamed possibly be on track to become the first Somali mayor in Minnesota, and only the second in the entire country?!

On Wednesday May 10, 2023, Joey Peters shared an article about Nadia Mohamed, the first Muslim, Somali, and youngest council member in the St. Louis Park City Council, who is running for mayor and aiming to become the first Black, Somali, and Muslim mayor in the city. The 26-year-old Nadia first entered the political arena in 2019, and if she emerges successful in her bid for the mayoral post, she will become the youngest person ever elected to the west metro suburb’s top public office, and the first Somali mayor in Minnesota. She will also be the first elected Somali mayor in the country, following Deqa Dhalac, who became the country’s first Somali mayor in 2021 when the city board of South Portland, Maine, appointed her to the position.

Nadia’s roots in St. Louis Park run deep. She came into the city as a refugee with her family when she was only 10-year-old, and since then, they have made it their home. Even during her college years, she chose to remain in the city, which she attributes to the instability she and her family experienced living in Somalia during the civil war in the early 1990s and then residing in a refugee camp in Kenya. Now, she and her siblings live together, renting a home in St. Louis Park.

Nadia’s campaign for mayor focuses on affordable housing, small businesses, and public safety, and her platform is a continuation of the work she’s been doing since before her term on the City Council began in 2020. One of her biggest priorities is expanding access to affordable housing, particularly for immigrants and people of color who often do not own homes and lack generational wealth to pass down to their children. She also places great emphasis on incentivizing homeownership. Nadia believes that the city government should be empathetic to people in need, and she wants to lead by example if she wins the election.

An advocate for diversity, Nadia began her public role in the city by serving on the multicultural advisory committee, where she focused on improving relations between the city’s police force and its diverse communities. Since then, she has gone on to host community iftar dinners during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which earned her a human rights award from the city. The face of St. Louis Park may just be about to become more diverse, as Miller, Nadia’s predecessor in the at-large council seat, hopes she becomes “the face of St. Louis Park” in the future.

Nadia’s first public campaign event is planned for Wednesday, May 31, at 6:30 p.m. at Westwood Hills Nature Center.