First Muslim and Arab woman elected to Colorado state legislature

Colorado voters elected Democrat Iman Jodeh to the Colorado General Assembly, making her the first Muslim and Arab woman elected to the Colorado state legislature.

Jodeh won 66 percent of the vote against GOP challenger Robert Andrews, according to The Denver Post. She will be representing the state’s 41st District, which comprises parts of Aurora and Arapahoe County.

Jodeh is an activist and the founder of nonprofit Meet the Middle East, and she worked as a spokesperson for the Colorado Muslim Society, according to the Post. She decided to pursue politics after attending a “Stand with our Muslim neighbors” rally in Denver.

“It was incredibly powerful to be able to speak truth to power about what it means to be Muslim in America,” she told the newspaper.

Jodeh wasn’t the only person to make history in the Centennial State. Democrat Naquetta Ricks became the first African immigrant elected to the Colorado House of Representatives, according to the Post. She will represent the state’s 40th District.

Ricks immigrated to the state from Liberia in 1980, according to the Post. She co-founded the state’s African Chamber of Commerce.

“I don’t think I set out to be the first [African immigrant], but I definitely set out to be a voice at the table,” she told the newspaper. “I’m hoping that by breaking the glass ceiling, more people will see that is possible.”