Four Nigerian Americans won races in the November 3 US midterm elections, securing state and local offices in Maryland, Texas, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania. A fifth candidate, Georgia state Representative Segun Adeyina, was leading in his race, which remained uncalled as votes were counted.
In Maryland, Democrat Will Jawando defeated Republican Esther Wells in the race for Montgomery County executive. Jawando, the son of a Nigerian father and an American mother, served on the Montgomery County Council before the election.
In Texas, Democrat Junior Ezeonu, 27, won the District 101 seat in the state House of Representatives. He defeated incumbent Chris Turner in the Democratic primary and was the only candidate on the general election ballot after no Republican entered the race. According to his campaign biography, Ezeonu was born in Onitsha, Anambra State, and moved to Texas at the age of two.
In Washington, DC, Democrat Oye Owolewa won an at-large seat on the District of Columbia Council. Owolewa, a pharmacist whose parents immigrated from Nigeria’s Kwara and Osun states, previously served as the district’s elected shadow representative, a role that advocates for DC statehood without carrying voting rights in Congress.
In Pennsylvania, Democrat Carol Kazeem retained her District 159 seat in the state House of Representatives, defeating Republican Michael Bannon.
In Georgia, Adeyina, a Nigerian-born Democrat, was seeking re-election to the state House of Representatives in District 110 against Republican Charles Lollar.
