23-year-old Nabeela Syed is a state general candidate for Illinois. Syed will be its newest member when he is sworn in.

"Ich heiße Nabeela Syed. I'm a 23-year-old Muslim woman who is Indian-American "On Wednesday, she tweeted an announcement.

We recently defeated a Republican-held district in a suburban area.

I'll be the youngest member of the Illinois General assembly in January, she continued.

She has also achieved a few other firsts along the way, as is customary for these trailblazers: she was the first Muslim, as well as the first Indian-American (of any creed) elected to the Illinois state House, along with Palestinian-American Abdel Nasser Rashid.


Some newspapers have mentioned that Syed wears a hijab.

The youngest Indian-American to ever be elected to a state legislature is Kesha Ram, who is currently sitting in the Vermont state Senate. She had only turned 21 when she was chosen to serve in the state legislature. In 2016, she made an unsuccessful run for Lt. Governor. She is related to Sir ganga Ram, who built the modern city of Lahore and has a hospital in delhi named after him.

Syed was born in Illinois, but nothing else was known about her family other the fact that at least one of her parents was of indian descent.

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