St. Louis Park elects a new mayor, apparently the first Somali-American to lead a U.S. city – Twin Cities

St. Louis Park appears to be the first U.S. city to elect a Somali-American mayor.

Nadia Mohamed, 27, won Tuesday’s local election with 58% of the vote, defeating Dale Anderson, who received 41% of the vote. She has been a member of the city council since her election in 2019 at the age of 23.

Deqa Dhalac of South Portland, Maine, was the first Somali American to serve as mayor of an American city, but was selected in 2021 by that city’s six-member city council rather than by voters.

St. Louis Park Mayor Jake Spano did not seek re-election and supported Mohamed.

Mohamed will also become the first black mayor and first Muslim mayor of the 50,000-person suburban community of West Metro.

“This is the second time I’ve made history. What I learned the first time was that this is just a milestone. It is not the goal,” Mohamed told Sahan Journal. “It’s amazing to create all of these ‘firsts,’ but we don’t want to end our story there.”