Rashida Tlaib projected to win Michigan Congressional seat
Rashida Tlaib is projected to win in Michigan's 13th Congressional District, ABC News projects, based on analysis of voting data, and is poised to become the first Muslim-American woman in Congress.
In Minnesota, Ilhan Oman was hoping to join Tlaib as first Muslim-American and separately be the first Somali-American woman to be elected to Congress.
The seat in Michigan was left open last year when longtime Rep. John Conyers Jr. resigned, citing health concerns, though he was also facing sexual harassment allegations. Tlaib faced no Republican or Independent challenges in the district.
Tlaib served in the Michigan House of Representatives beginning in 2008 and was the first Muslim American to serve there. The Detroit native went on to serve three terms in the Michigan House and was the Democratic leader of the Appropriations Committee. Because of term limits, she could not run for her seat again.
After serving in Michigan’s House, she went on to work as an attorney for the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, combating anti-Arab and anti-Muslim rhetoric, repairing state benefit fraud and environmental measures to stop the pollution of the Detroit River, according to her website.
In early August of 2016, during then-candidate Donald Trump’s presidential campaign stop in Detroit, Tlaib and a group of about 20 women stood during his speech and shouted questions about his treatment of women, according to Michigan Live.
