November 5, 2024
Yassamin Ansari, a 32-year-old Iranian-American Democrat, crusaded to an easy victory in an Arizona district November 5 to become the first truly Iranian member of Congress in US history.
Stephanie Bice, who father was an immigrant from Zahedan, was elected as a Republican representing Oklahoma City in 2020 and re-elected in 2022 and again this year. Bice’s mother was American; her father had a Pakistani dad and an Iranian mother. Bice’s parents separated when Bice was young and she was brought up by a single mother, so she really has had no cultural links to Iran or Pakistan.
Ansari’s parents, on the other hand, are both Iranian. Her father came to the United States for college and married a fellow Iranian. Yassamin was born in Washington state and her parents moved to Arizona when she was five, because, Yassamin jokes, they wanted to get away from the rain in Seattle.
At 32, Yassamin will be among the younger members of Congress. Her seat is mainly in Phoenix and her constituents are almost two-thirds Hispanic. The seat became open when Rep. Ruben Gallego decided to run for the US Senate against Republican Kari Lake, a race he won. Ansari declared for the seat, barely winning the Democratic primary by just 39 votes. But she cruised to an easy victory November 5 with 70.3 percent of the vote in an overwhelmingly Democratic district.
Ansari often speaks of her parents having fled the Islamic Republic. Her mother worked as a physical therapist and her father started his own business. She has written, “From a young age, the importance of civic engagement and activism was ingrained in me at the family dinner table. Undoubtedly, I was influenced by my family’s struggles and their American Dream story, propelling me into a life of service.”
She graduated from Stanford University in California with a degree in international relations and went onto the University of Cambridge for a master’s in international relations and politics. Along the way she interned for Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and volunteered at refugee camps in Jordan.
She started in politics in 2020, running for a seat on the Phoenix City Council. She came in 113 votes behind the front-runner in the primary, but as neither topped even one-third of the vote, there was a run-off, which Ansari won handily with 58 percent.
She was active on environmental issues on the City Council, seeking to mitigate the growing temperatures in the city, promoting more tree planting, tackling water supply issues and promoting the use of electric vehicles. She was also active in supporting the Phoenix LGBTQIA+ community and sponsored the creation of Phoenix Promise, a scholarship program supporting 800 low-income students pursuing a community college education.
She has a reputation as a member of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.