Abdi Warsame

Abdi Warsame (Somali: Cabdi Warsame, Arabic: عبدي وارسام‎) (born 1978) is a Somali-American politician in Minnesota's Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. After moving to London as an asylum-seeker, he immigrated to Minnesota in 2006. In November 2013, he was elected to the Minneapolis City Council, becoming the first Somali official to be elected to the position.[1] Warsame was reelected for a second term in 2017. He resigned from the position in 2020 to become the head of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.

Abdi Warsame
Member of the Minneapolis City Council from the 6th Ward
In office
January 2, 2014 – March 30, 2020
Preceded byRobert Lilligren
Succeeded byJamal Osman
Personal details
Born (1978-03-05) March 5, 1978
Mogadishu, Somalia
Political partyDemocratic
Children4
ResidenceCedar-Riverside, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Alma materMiddlesex University (BS)
University of Greenwich (MBA)
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life and education

Warsame was born on March 5, 1978 in Mogadishu, Somalia.[1][2] In the late-1980s, and his family sought asylum in London.[1] Warsame earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from the Middlesex University. He also holds a master's degree in International Business from the University of Greenwich.[3] In 2006, Warsame immigrated to Minneapolis, Minnesota.[3]

Career

Early career

Warsame first entered politics in 2011, while working on Mohamud Noor's campaign for a state Senate seat on a DFL ticket.[1]

Warsame was the founder and spokesperson for the Citizen's Committee for Fair Redistricting, which took part in the Minneapolis redistricting process. The group lobbied the Minneapolis Charter Commission to redraw the municipality's political districts so as to maximize the East African community's vote.[1] The commission concurred and established a number of new precincts in Ward 6.[4][5]

Warsame chaired the Cedar Riverside-Neighborhood Revitalization Program[5] and served as Executive Director of the Riverside Plaza Tenants Association, which represents the tenants of Riverside Plaza.[1]

2013 election
Warsame's victory speech in 2013

Warsame ran in the 2013 Minneapolis municipal elections to represent Ward 6 on the Minneapolis City Council.[1]

Somali-American professionals contributed significantly to Warsame's election campaign. His campaign finance filings put him among the top tier of successful fundraisers in Minneapolis' 13 wards.[6][7] Lawyer and political operative Brian Rice was Warsame's strategist for the campaign.[8]

Warsame's campaign was criticized by DFLer Robert Lilligren's caucus captain Maryam Marne Zafar, who alleged that Warsame supporters tried to turn voters away from Lilligren by highlighting the fact that Lilligren was openly gay.[9] Lilligren also charged that Warsame supporters had capitalized on language barriers to win votes.[10] Warsame dismissed the claims as sour grapes stemming from a lack of support for Lilligren's campaign, and added that he specifically told members of his political team not to use Lilligren's sexual orientation as a talking point.[9] A DFL committee also rejected the Lilligren team's allegations.[10]

Just before the election, the political action committee of Palestinian real estate developer Basim Sabri, who had a personal feud with Lilligren, produced controversial fliers smearing Lilligren and asserting that he discriminated against minorities, the elderly, and the poor.[10][11] The fliers urged voters instead to cast their ballots for Warsame. Warsame's campaign team emailed a statement denouncing the Sabri committee's pamphlets and their use of Warsame's name. It also indicated that Sabri and his action group were unaffiliated with the Vote Warsame For Ward 6 campaign and were instead acting out of their own volition.[10]

On November 5, 2013, Warsame was elected to represent the predominantly East-African Ward 6 on the Minneapolis City Council. He was the first-choice preference of 64% of voters, and received 40% of second-choice votes, and 20% of third-choice votes. The incumbent, Robert Lilligren, received 32% of first-choice votes, almost 27% of second-choice votes, and 13% of third-choice votes. The victory makes Warsame the first Somali American to hold the position.[1] Warsame and Ahmed M. Hassan, who was elected to the Clarkston, Georgia City Council on the same day, are the first Somali Americans to be elected to municipal offices in the United States and were the highest elected Somali Americans in the country at the time.[1][12] Warsame's election set civic precedence in the Somali American community of Minneapolis, in which his campaign energized and mobilized this sub-community's powerful voting bloc.[13]

Warsame was reelected in 2017 by about 4%, around 240 votes.[14] In early 2020, partway through his term, he was appointed head of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.[15] He resigned from his City Council seat on March 30 of that year to take the new position, the first Somali person to lead one of Minnesota's public agencies.[16] Jamal Osman was elected in August to fill Warsame's seat.[17]

Personal life

Warsame is married and has four children.[3] He is a resident of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, which is home to the largest concentration of Somalis outside of East Africa.[1]

Electoral history
Minneapolis City Council Ward 6 election, 2013[18]
Political party/principle Candidate % 1st Choice Round 1
DFL Abdi Warsame 63.92 3,090
DFL Robert Lilligren 32.21 1,557
DFL Abdi Addow 1.80 87
DFL Sheikh Abdul 0.81 39
DFL Mahamed A Cali 0.52 25
DFL Abukar Abdi 0.41 20
N/A Write-in 0.33 16
  • Maximum possible threshold: 2,526
  • Valid: 4,834
  • Undervotes: 205
  • Turnout: 5,051

References
  1. Williams, Brandt (November 5, 2013). "Warsame wins seat on Minneapolis City Council". MPR News. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  2. Grove, Ben (November 6, 2013). "3 Minneapolis Council incumbents ousted; 1st Somali elected". BringeMeTheNews. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  3. Mohamed, Mohamed (May 19, 2013). "Meet Abdi". The Abdi Warsame Volunteer Committee. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  4. Gilbert, Curtis (May 22, 2013). "Abdi Warsame, contender for City Council, out to change perspectives". MPR News. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  5. "About Abdi Warsame". City of Minneapolis. December 23, 2013. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  6. Gitaa, Tom (September 12, 2013). "Somali professionals propel Warsame to top tier of money getters in race for Minneapolis City Council". Mshale.
  7. Staff (November 5, 2013). "Abdi Warsame becomes first African-born Minneapolis City Council member". Mshale. Archived from the original on September 5, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  8. Rao, Maya (September 30, 2013). "Brian Rice: Behind the scenes in Minneapolis politics, but widespread influence". Star Tribune.
  9. Rao, Maya (April 26, 2013). "Political hardball alleged in Minneapolis council race". Star Tribune.
  10. Rupar, Aaron (November 6, 2013). "Basim Sabri, man behind pro-Abdi Warsame fliers, says he prefers Hitler to Lilligren". City Pages. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013.
  11. Marx, Jesse (November 5, 2013). "Abdi Warsame supporters distribute late-hour campaign smear". City Pages. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013.
  12. Rao, Maya (November 17, 2013). "Warsame to bring rising Somali clout to Minneapolis City Hall". Star Tribune.
  13. Rao, Maya (November 17, 2013). "Warsame to bring rising Somali clout to Minneapolis City Hall". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  14. Gotlieb, Nate (November 8, 2017). "Incumbent Warsame wins in Ward 6". Southwest Journal. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  15. Ibrahim, Mukhtar M. (January 29, 2020). "Tapped to lead Minneapolis housing system, Warsame makes history again". MPR News. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  16. Peters, Joey (March 30, 2020). "Abdi Warsame Takes the Helm at the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority". Sahan Journal. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  17. Navratil, Liz (August 14, 2020). "Jamal Osman poised to join Minneapolis City Council". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  18. "2013 Minneapolis Election Results: City Council Ward 6". City of Minneapolis. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
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