Nina Ahmad | |
---|---|
![]() Ahmad in 2015 | |
Member of the Philadelphia City Council from At-Large | |
Assumed office January 1, 2024 | |
Preceded by | Sharon Vaughn |
Deputy Mayor of Philadelphia for Public Engagement | |
In office January 2016 –November 2017 | |
Appointed by | Jim Kenney |
Personal details | |
Born | 1960 (age 63–64) Bangladesh |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Ahsan Nasratullah |
Children | 2 |
Residence(s) | Mt. Airy,Philadelphia |
Alma mater | Lawrence Technological University University of Pennsylvania |
Website | Campaign |
Nina Ahmad (born 1960) is an American scientist,politician,and women's rights activist from Pennsylvania. She was elected in 2023 to be an at-large member of Philadelphia City Council and is the first person of South Asian descent to serve on the council. [1]
She was the Democratic nominee for the 2020 Pennsylvania Auditor General election which she lost to Timothy DeFoor. She previously ran for Lieutenant Governor in 2018 but lost in the Democratic primary to John Fetterman. [2]
Ahmad was born and raised in Bangladesh and lived through the Bangladesh Liberation War. When she was 21,She moved to Michigan alone where she received an undergraduate degree from Lawrence Technological University. She then moved to Philadelphia in 1983 to pursue a PhD in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and completed a molecular genetics postdoctoral fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University. She married Ahsan Nasratullah and settled in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia,where they raised their 2 daughters. [3] [4]
After stints at Wills Eye Hospital and serving as President of a life sciences company,she became involved in government affairs as the executive vice president of government affairs at JNA Capital,a real estate company. [4] During this time,Ahmad became the first Bangladeshi-American to be appointed to a position in the Obama Administration when President Barack Obama appointed her to the Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in 2014,while also serving on Michael Nutter's commission on Asian American Affairs while he was Mayor of Philadelphia. [5]
Ahmad also had a large role in the governance of the National Organization for Women,becoming the President of the Philadelphia Chapter in 2013,until being appointed to serve in Mayor Jim Kenney's administration as Deputy Mayor of Philadelphia for Public Engagement. She served in that position for a year before resigning to run for Congress. When electoral conditions changed,she instead ran and lost a bid for Lt. Governor,at which time she returned to serving on the National Board for the National Organization for Women before heading the Pennsylvania Chapter as its president. [3]
In November 2017,Ahmad announced her resignation as Deputy Mayor to launch a primary challenge against Bob Brady. She later withdrew after redistricting moved her out of the district. [6]
In February 2018,after redistricting,Ahmad withdrew from the congressional race to announce that she would challenge incumbent Lieutenant Governor Mike Stack to run alongside Tom Wolf in the 2018 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election. She placed second with 23.8% of the vote,losing to John Fetterman,who would go on to win in the general election. [7]
In October 2019,Ahmad announced her candidacy for Pennsylvania Auditor General after Democratic incumbent Eugene DePasquale declined to seek re-election and instead ran for Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district. [8] Ahmad defeated five other candidates to win the Democratic primary,receiving 36% of the vote. [9]
In the general election,Ahmad faced Republican Timothy DeFoor. Given that Ahmad is Bangladeshi American and DeFoor is African American,the election meant that the victor would be the first person of color to be elected to statewide executive office in Pennsylvania. [10] DeFoor went on to win the general election in November,defeating Ahmad by under 209,000 votes. [11]
In December 2022,Ahmad announced that she would seek one of the five nominations for the 2023 Philadelphia City Council at-large election. Ahmad successfully won one of the five nominations after raising the campaign contribution limits for the race by donating to her own campaign [12] and receiving 63,465 votes in the Democratic primary. Her campaign focused on making Philadelphia healthier and drew upon her background as a medical scientist. [13] [14] She advanced to the general election in November and won a seat on the city council. [1]
John Karl Fetterman is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Pennsylvania since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party,he served as the mayor of Braddock,Pennsylvania,from 2006 to 2019 and as the 34th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 2019 to 2023.
Jack E. Wagner is an American Democratic politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He served as Pennsylvania Auditor General,and previously served in the State Senate and Pittsburgh City Council.
Michael Joseph Stack III is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 33rd lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party,he previously served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 5th district from 2001 to 2015.
Cherelle Lesley Parker is an American politician who has served as the 100th mayor of Philadelphia since 2024. She is the first woman to hold the office.
The 2011 Philadelphia mayoral election was held on November 8,2011,to elect the mayor of Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. Incumbent Michael Nutter had been Mayor of Philadelphia since 2008 after being elected in the 2007 election,and was re-elected with approximately 75% of the vote. Primary elections were held on May 17,2011.
The 2016 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania took place on November 8,2016,to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election,as well as other elections to the United States Senate in numerous other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on April 26. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Pat Toomey was reelected to a second term in a close race,defeating Democratic nominee Katie McGinty and Libertarian Party nominee Edward Clifford. With a margin of 1.43%,this election was the second-closest race of the 2016 Senate election cycle,behind only the election in New Hampshire.
The 2018 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election took place on November 6,2018,to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania,concurrently with the election of Pennsylvania's Class I U.S. Senate seat,as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various local elections. Incumbent Governor Tom Wolf won re-election to a second term by a double-digit margin,defeating Republican challenger Scott Wagner and two third-party candidates from the Green Party,Paul Glover and Libertarian Party,Ken Krawchuk. The primary elections were held on May 15. This was the only Democratic-held governorship up for election in a state that Donald Trump won in the 2016 presidential election.
Helen Gym is an American politician. She was the first Asian American woman to serve on the Philadelphia City Council. She was first elected to Council in 2015 and served until 2022,when she resigned to run in the Democratic primary of the 2023 Philadelphia mayoral election. Gym finished in third place behind Cherelle Parker,who won the nomination,and Rebecca Rhynhart.
The 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held on November 8,2022,to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Democratic lieutenant governor John Fetterman won his first term in office,defeating Republican surgeon Mehmet Oz. Fetterman succeeded Republican incumbent senator Pat Toomey,who did not seek re-election after two terms. This was the only U.S. Senate seat to flip parties in 2022.
Malcolm Kenyatta is an American politician from the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. A member of the Democratic Party,he has served as the Pennsylvania state representative for the 181st district since 2019. He was the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania Auditor General in the 2024 election,losing to incumbent Republican Timothy DeFoor.
The 2022 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 8,2022,to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania. Democratic state attorney general Josh Shapiro defeated Republican state senator Doug Mastriano to win his first term in office. Shapiro succeeded Democratic incumbent Tom Wolf,who was term limited.
Michael Lamb is an American politician and attorney who served as Controller of the City of Pittsburgh from 2008 to 2024. He was most recently a candidate for Allegheny County executive,but was defeated in the Democratic Primary by Sara Innamorato.
The Pennsylvania Auditor General election of 2020 took place on November 3,2020. Primary elections were originally due to take place on April 28,2020. However,following concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic the primaries were delayed until June 2,2020. Under the Pennsylvania Constitution incumbent Democratic Auditor General Eugene DePasquale was ineligible to seek a third consecutive term.
The 2023 Philadelphia mayoral election was held on November 7,2023 to elect the mayor of Philadelphia. Nominees for the Democratic and Republican parties were selected through primaries on May 16,2023.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania on November 3,2020. The office of the Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth oversees the election process,including voting and vote counting.
Timothy Lionel DeFoor is an American politician who currently serves as the Pennsylvania Auditor General. He previously served as the Controller of Dauphin County,Pennsylvania. He is the first black elected state official in Pennsylvania history.
Amen R. Brown is an American politician. He is a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives,representing the 10th District since 2023. Brown previously represented the 190th District from 2021 to 2022 before redistricting moved him to the 10th District.
The 2022 Philadelphia City Council special elections were planned special elections in 2022. The reason for the special elections was at least five resignations from the Philadelphia City Council.
The 2023 Philadelphia City Council elections was held November 7,2023 for elections of all seats in the Philadelphia City Council. The Democratic Party maintained its super-majority on the council. The election took place on the same day as the 2023 Philadelphia mayoral election and other local elections in the Commonwealth.
The 2024 Pennsylvania Attorney General election was held on November 5,2024,to elect the attorney general of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Republican York County district attorney Dave Sunday defeated former auditor general Eugene DePasquale in the general election,becoming the first Republican attorney general since Tom Corbett.. This was the only attorney general seat to change parties in 2024.