This article is a list of all Arab Americans and Middle Eastern Americans who have ever served in the United States Congress. This list includes North Africans in the United States who identify as Arabs as well as Middle Eastern Americans who are not Arabs.
The first Arab American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives was George A. Kasem in 1959, and the first Arab-American U.S. senator was James Abourezk in 1973. In the 115th Congress, there were six U.S. representatives and no U.S. senators of Arab-American descent serving in Congress. [1] [2] On November 6, 2018, four additional Arab Americans, all of whom are female, were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives: Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Ilhan Omar, Donna Shalala and Rashida Tlaib. Tlaib and Omar were also the first Muslim women in Congress. [3] The U.S. House of Representatives currently has five Arab-American members.
The first Assyrian American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives was Adam Benjamin in 1977, [4] and the first Iranian-American U.S. Representative was Stephanie Bice in 2021. [5] There currently are one Assyrian-American and one Iranian-American U.S. Representative serving in Congress.
Picture | Senator (lifespan) | Arab or Middle Eastern ethnicity | Party | State | Term start | Term end | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
James Abourezk (1931–2023) | Lebanese | Democratic | South Dakota | January 3, 1973 | January 3, 1979 | Retired [6] | |
George J. Mitchell (born 1933) | Lebanese | Democratic | Maine | May 17, 1980 | January 3, 1995 | Retired [7] | |
James Abdnor (1923–2012) | Lebanese | Republican | South Dakota | January 3, 1981 | January 3, 1987 | Lost reelection [8] | |
Spencer Abraham (born 1952) | Lebanese | Republican | Michigan | January 3, 1995 | January 3, 2001 | Lost reelection [9] [10] | |
John E. Sununu (born 1964) | Palestinian, Lebanese | Republican | New Hampshire | January 3, 2003 | January 3, 2009 | Lost reelection [11] [12] |
This section has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Picture | Representative (lifespan) | Arab or Middle Eastern ethnicity | Party | State | Term start | Term end | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
George A. Kasem (1919–2002) | Lebanese | Democratic | California | January 3, 1959 | January 3, 1961 | Lost reelection | |
Abraham Kazen (1919–1987) | Lebanese | Democratic | Texas | January 3, 1967 | January 3, 1985 | Lost renomination | |
James Abourezk (1931–2023) | Lebanese | Democratic | South Dakota | January 3, 1971 | January 3, 1973 | Retired to run successfully for U.S. Senator from South Dakota | |
James Abdnor (1923–2012) | Lebanese | Republican | South Dakota | January 3, 1973 | January 3, 1981 | Retired to run successfully for U.S. Senator from South Dakota | |
Toby Moffett (born 1944) | Lebanese | Democratic | Connecticut | January 3, 1975 | January 3, 1983 | Retired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senator from Connecticut | |
Adam Benjamin (1935–1982) | Assyrian | Democratic | Indiana | January 3, 1977 | September 7, 1982 | Died in office | |
Mary Rose Oakar (born 1940) | Lebanese, Syrian | Democratic | Ohio | January 3, 1977 | January 3, 1993 | Lost reelection | |
Nick Rahall (born 1949) | Lebanese | Democratic | West Virginia | January 3, 1977 | January 3, 2015 | Lost reelection | |
Pat Danner (born 1934) | Lebanese | Democratic | Missouri | January 3, 1993 | January 3, 2001 | Retired | |
Anna Eshoo (born 1942) | Assyrian | Democratic | California | January 3, 1993 | Incumbent | ||
John Baldacci (born 1955) | Lebanese | Democratic | Maine | January 3, 1995 | January 3, 2003 | Retired to run successfully for Governor of Maine | |
Ray LaHood (born 1945) | Lebanese | Republican | Illinois | January 3, 1995 | January 3, 2009 | Retired to become U.S. Secretary of Transportation | |
Chris John (born 1960) | Lebanese | Democratic | Louisiana | January 3, 1997 | January 3, 2005 | Retired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senator from Louisiana | |
John E. Sununu (born 1964) | Palestinian, Lebanese | Republican | New Hampshire | January 3, 1997 | January 3, 2003 | Retired to run successfully for U.S. Senator from New Hampshire | |
Darrell Issa (born 1953) | Lebanese | Republican | California | January 3, 2001 | January 3, 2019 | Retired | |
January 3, 2021 | Incumbent | ||||||
Charles Boustany (born 1956) | Lebanese | Republican | Louisiana | January 3, 2005 | January 3, 2017 | Retired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senator from Louisiana | |
Justin Amash (born 1980) | Palestinian, Syrian | Republican (2011–2019) | Michigan | January 3, 2011 | January 3, 2021 | Retired | |
Independent (2019–2020) | |||||||
Libertarian (2020–2021) | |||||||
Richard L. Hanna (1951–2020) | Lebanese | Republican | New York | January 3, 2011 | January 3, 2017 | Retired | |
Ralph Abraham (born 1954) | Lebanese | Republican | Louisiana | January 3, 2015 | January 3, 2021 | Retired | |
Gwen Graham (born 1963) | Lebanese | Democratic | Florida | January 3, 2015 | January 3, 2017 | Retired | |
Garret Graves (born 1972) | Lebanese | Republican | Louisiana | January 3, 2015 | Incumbent | ||
Darin LaHood (born 1968) | Lebanese | Republican | Illinois | September 10, 2015 | Incumbent | ||
Charlie Crist (born 1956) | Cypriot, Lebanese | Democratic | Florida | January 3, 2017 | August 31, 2022 | Resigned | |
Rubén Kihuen (born 1980) | Lebanese | Democratic | Nevada | January 3, 2017 | January 3, 2019 | Retired | |
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (born 1971) | Lebanese | Democratic | Florida | January 3, 2019 | January 3, 2021 | Lost reelection | |
Ilhan Omar (born 1981) | Somali [Note 1] | Democratic | Minnesota | January 3, 2019 | Incumbent | ||
Donna Shalala (born 1941) | Lebanese | Democratic | Florida | January 3, 2019 | January 3, 2021 | Lost reelection | |
Rashida Tlaib (born 1976) | Palestinian | Democratic | Michigan | January 3, 2019 | Incumbent | ||
Stephanie Bice (born 1973) | Iranian | Republican | Oklahoma | January 3, 2021 | Incumbent |
Southern Democrats are members of the U.S. Democratic Party who reside in the Southern United States.
Ellis James Abdnor was an American politician who served as a member of the United States Senate from South Dakota. He was also the 15th Administrator of the Small Business Administration under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.
James George Abourezk was an American attorney and politician from South Dakota. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in both chambers of the United States Congress for one term each; a United States House of Representatives from 1971 to 1973 and a member of the United States Senate from 1973 to 1979; he was the first Arab to serve in the United States Senate. In 1980, Abourezk founded the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) with the goal of counteracting anti-Arab sentiment in the country. He served in the United States Navy during the Korean War, but was also a critic of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, particularly with regard to the Arab–Israeli conflict. Under his leadership, the ADC became especially active following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent Gulf War, during which he became concerned about the rising rate of targeted hate crimes against Arabs and also against people misidentified as Arabs.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) states that it is "the largest Arab American grassroots civil rights organization in the United States." According to its webpage it is open to people of all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities and has a national network of chapters and members in all 50 states. It claims that three million Americans trace their roots to an Arab country.
Censure is a formal, public, group condemnation of an individual, often a group member, whose actions run counter to the group's acceptable standards for individual behavior. In the United States, governmental censure is done when a body's members wish to publicly reprimand the president of the United States, a member of Congress, a judge or a cabinet member. It is a formal statement of disapproval. It relies on the target's sense of shame or their constituents' subsequent disapproval, without which it has little practical effect when done on members of Congress and no practical effect when done on the president.
Donald Gene Davis is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 1st congressional district since 2023.
Women have served in the United States House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the United States Congress, since 1917 following the election of Republican Jeannette Rankin from Montana, the first woman in Congress. In total, 376 women have been U.S. representatives and seven more have been non-voting delegates. As of November 28, 2023, there are 126 women in the U.S. House of Representatives, making women 29.0% of the total. Of the 383 women who have served in the House, 251 have been Democrats and 132 have been Republicans. One woman was the 52nd Speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi of California.
Rashida Harbi Tlaib is an American politician and lawyer serving as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 12th congressional district. She is the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.
Garret Neal Graves is an American politician serving as the United States representative from Louisiana's 6th congressional district since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Our Revolution is an American progressive political action organization spun out of Senator Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign to continue its work. The organization's mission is to educate voters about issues, get people involved in the political process, and work to organize and elect progressive candidates. Our Revolution is also the title of a book by Sanders released in November 2016.
Ilhan Abdullahi Omar is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before her election to Congress, Omar served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019, representing part of Minneapolis. Her congressional district includes all of Minneapolis and some of its first-ring suburbs.
Neal Patrick Dunn is an American surgeon and Republican Party politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 2nd congressional district since 2017.
The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan were held on November 6, 2018, to elect the 14 U.S. representatives from the state of Michigan, one from each of the state's 14 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other offices, including a gubernatorial election, other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections. The filing deadline for candidates filing for the August 7 primary was April 24, 2018. Unless otherwise indicated, the Cook Political Report rated the congressional races as safe for the party of the incumbent.
Justice Democrats (JD) is an American progressive political action committee and caucus founded on January 23, 2017, by two leaders of Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign, Saikat Chakrabarti and Zack Exley, as well as political commentators Kyle Kulinski and Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks. The organization formed as a result of the 2016 United States presidential election and aspires "to elect a new type of Democratic majority in Congress" that will "create a thriving economy and democracy that works for the people, not big money interests". The group advocates for campaign finance reform and endorses only candidates who pledge to refuse donations from corporate PACs and lobbyists.
A special election for Michigan's 13th congressional district was held on November 6, 2018, following the resignation of Democratic U.S. Representative John Conyers.
The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan were held on November 3, 2020, to elect the 14 U.S. representatives from the state of Michigan, one from each of the state's 14 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. Party primaries were held on August 4, 2020. The Michigan delegation prior to the election consisted of seven Democrats, six Republicans and one Libertarian. Unless otherwise indicated, the Cook Political Report rated the races as safe for the party of the incumbents.
The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota was held on November 3, 2020, to elect the eight U.S. representatives from the state of Minnesota, one from each of its congressional districts. Primary elections were held in six districts on August 11. The elections coincided with the 2020 United States presidential election as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and other state and local elections.
The 2024 United States Senate election in Michigan will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect a Class I member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Michigan. It will be held concurrently with the 2024 United States presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate, other elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Primary elections will take place on August 6, 2024.
The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan were held on November 8, 2022, to elect representatives for the thirteen seats in Michigan. The deadline for candidates to file for the August 2 primary was April 19. The congressional makeup prior to the election was seven Democrats and seven Republicans. However, after the 2020 census, Michigan lost one congressional seat. Democrats won a majority of seats in the state for the first time since 2008. This can be partly attributed to the decrease in the number of districts, which resulted in two Republican incumbents – Bill Huizenga and Fred Upton – in the new 4th district. Redistricting also played a part in shifting partisan lean of the districts which favored the Democrats overall, including in the 3rd district, which Democrats were able to flip with a margin of victory of 13 points. That was made possible by a non-partisan citizens' commission drawing the new political boundaries instead of the Michigan legislature after a 2018 ballot proposal was approved.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link)