DETROIT, August 8, 2018 (WAFA) – Rashida Tlaib, an American of Palestinian descent and a former Michigan state representative, will become the first Muslim woman to be elected to the US Congress after winning on Tuesday the Democratic Party primary election for Michigan’s 13th district.
Tlaib, who defeated her Democratic Party contender for the Congress seat by winning 33.6 percent of the votes to 28.5 percent, is expected to officially become a Congresswoman on November 6 since she will not by opposed by any Republican candidate on that special mid-term elections day.
“Thank you so much for making this unbelievable moment possible. I am at a loss for words. I cannot wait to serve you in Congress,” Tlaib tweeted after the primary election results were announced.
Rashida Tlaib, 42, is the mother of two boys and the oldest of 14 children. She was born and raised in Detroit. She is the daughter of Palestinian immigrant parents. Her mother was born in Beit Ur El Foka, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. Her father was born in Beit Hanina, a suburb of Jerusalem. He moved first to Nicaragua, then to Detroit, where he worked on an assembly line in a Ford Motor Company plant.
Tlaib made history in 2008 by winning her race for State Representative and becoming the first Muslim woman to ever serve in the Michigan Legislature. She served three terms, rising to the Democratic Chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
She graduated with a law degree from Thomas Cooley Law School in 2004.
M.K.
