Nida Allam
Allam in 2021
Durham County Commissioner
Assumed office
December 7, 2020
Preceded byEllen Reckhow
Personal details
Born (1993-12-15) December 15, 1993
Ottawa, Canada
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseTowqir Aziz
EducationNorth Carolina State University (BS)

Nida Allam (born December 15, 1993) is an American politician, political activist, and data analyst. She currently serves on the Durham County Board of Commissioners, to which she was elected in 2020, making her the first Muslim woman to serve in public office in North Carolina.[1] Allam is one of five women to serve on the Durham County Board of Commissioners; this is the first time the board has consisted entirely of women in its 139-year history.

Since 2018, Allam has served as the Chair of the Durham Mayor’s Council for Women. She was elected as the Third Vice-Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party and served from 2017 to 2021, becoming the first Muslim to serve on the party’s executive board. On November 8, 2021, Allam announced that she would be seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for Congress in North Carolina's newly redrawn 4th Congressional District.[2]

Early life and education

Allam was born on December 15, 1993, in Ottawa, Canada.[3] She is the daughter of immigrants, her father is from India and her mother is from Pakistan.[1][3][4] Allam has two older sisters.[3] When she was five years old her family moved to Brier Creek, a suburb between Raleigh and Durham in North Carolina, after her father took a job with IBM at Research Triangle Park.[1][3] When she was six years old the family moved to the nearby town of Cary.[3] She became a naturalized United States citizen as a teenager.[3] Her mother, Iffat Allam,[5] served as the Chair of the Women's Committee at their mosque.[6] Allam and her mother volunteered at local food banks and helped set up homes for single mothers and refugees in the Research Triangle.[6] A devout Muslim, she began wearing hijab full-time when she was in eighth grade.[1]

Allam graduated from Needham B. Broughton High School, a magnet school in downtown Raleigh, where she was a member of the varsity lacrosse team.[1][7][8][3] As a high school student, she chaired the Triangle Health Fair, a Muslim student-led campaign to partner with local doctors, chiropractors, and dentists to provide free health care to low-income community members.[3]

She graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree in sustainable materials and technology.[1][9] While at university, she founded the NC State For Bernie Club and became Co-Chair of the Triangle For Bernie Club.[3][10]

Political career

Allam was inspired to become politically involved after her best friend, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, was one of the three people killed in the 2015 Chapel Hill shooting.[1][11] She had been a bridesmaid at Abu-Salha's wedding that December.[1][10] The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Justice also launched their own investigations into the shooting. Federal authorities could not find sufficient evidence to charge Hicks with a hate crime. Allam became involved in the grassroots movement and worked as a political director for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign, as well as an organizing director for Justice Cheri Beasley's campaign for the North Carolina Supreme Court.[1][9][12] She was the 2016 Political Director in North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey and New York for Sanders' presidential campaign.[6][13]

She is a 2019 alumna of Durham's chapter of the New Leaders Council.[9][14]

Initial runs for office

Allam decided to run for public office after having worked behind the scenes in the progressive movement and with voter mobilization efforts because she believed there needed to be more progressive candidates representing the diversity of the American people.[1] She was elected as the Third Vice Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party in January 2017, becoming the first Muslim American to serve on the party's executive council, and was appointed as the Chair of the Durham Mayor's Council for Women in 2018.[3][15][16]

As a member of the Mayor's Council for Women, she advised Mayor Steve Schewel on issues pertaining to the rights of women and LGBTQIA community members, especially non-binary and transgender people.[9] As Third Vice Chair of the Democratic Party in North Carolina, she served alongside Second Chair Matt Hughes, former First Chair Aisha Dew, Party Secretary Melvin Williams, and former State Party Chairman Wayne Goodwin.[17] She also served as a delegate at the 2016 Democratic National Convention and the 2020 Democratic National Convention.[18]

Durham County Board of Commissioners

Allam was elected to the Durham County Board of Commissioners in 2020 with endorsements from the Durham Association of Educators, Equality North Carolina, and the People's Alliance PAC.[1][12][19][20] When Allam announced her candidacy for Durham County Commissioner, her family members received Islamophobic hate mail via social media platforms.[3] She was elected to serve alongside Nimasheena Burns, Wendy Jacobs, Heidi Carter, and Brenda Howerton.[1] This was the first time that Durham County has had an all-woman board of commissioners in its 139-year history.[1][21][22] Upon her election, she became the first Muslim woman to hold an elected office in North Carolina.[15][16][23] She received 39,523 votes in the primary election and 122,947 votes in the general election, finishing ahead of all other candidates.[24][16][25][26] Her election was celebrated by the Council on American–Islamic Relations and Muslim Advocates.[16]

Congressional candidacy

On November 8, 2021, Allam announced that she would be seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for Congress in North Carolina's newly redrawn 4th Congressional District.[2] If she were elected, she would be the third Muslim woman to serve in Congress, after Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib,[27] both of whom endorsed Allam's candidacy. Allam lost the primary to her more moderate opponent by 9 points.[28]

Political views

Allam ran for Durham County Commissioner on a platform centered on addressing economic inequality. Campaign priorities included a $15 minimum wage for county workers, boosting mental health services in schools and investing in businesses run by women and people of color.[29]

She believes that charter schools have increased racial segregation in Durham schools.[12] As a county commissioner, Allam stated she plans to increase the minimum wage of Durham Public Schools classified staff to U.S. $15 an hour and enact property tax assistance programs.[1][16][12] She has stated that evictions and lack of affordable housing opportunities are also a crisis in the county, and referenced the issue of gentrification misplacing Black families from their homes in Durham's historical African-American neighborhoods.[1][12] Allam has also called for more funding and community investment into Durham Public Schools and Durham Technical Community College, saying that education is tied to economic and racial justice issues.[1] Allam supports organized labor unions.[1] She blames the North Carolina General Assembly for inadequate funding for public schools.[12]

Allam has been criticized for her past statements and tweets in regards to Israel that some have seen as Anti-Zionist or anti-Semitic.[30][28] In 2021, Allam apologized to the Jewish community for her past statements and committed to "a movement for justice and peace, in which anti-Semitism must have no home."[31] While Allam received endorsements in her race from figures like Ilhan Omar, who have been in the past accused of antisemitism,[32] Valerie Foushee, her primary opponent, began to receive funds and assistance from pro-Israel groups such as AIPAC and Sam Bankman-Fried's Protect Our Future PAC, prompting allegations that Foushee's campaign had succeeded primarily due to support from dark money as the race became "the most expensive Democratic congressional primary in North Carolina history".[33]

Personal life

She lives in Durham with her husband, Towqir Aziz, and two dogs named Otis and Nala.[9][6] She and Aziz met in a Muslim Sunday school.[6] Allam is a member of the Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality & Equality.[34] She is a citizen of the United States and Canada, and also holds Pakistani citizenship by descent.[35]

In April 2022, Allam announced that she was pregnant.[36] Allam had been pregnant in 2021, but had an abortion due to medical issues.[37]

Electoral history

2022 North Carolina's 4th congressional district Democratic primary[38]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Valerie Foushee 40,531 46.15
Democratic Nida Allam 32,424 36.92
Democratic Clay Aiken 6,469 7.37
Democratic Ashley Ward 4,730 5.39
Democratic Richard Watkins III 1,132 1.29
Democratic Crystal Cavalier 1,104 1.26
Democratic Stephen Valentine 1,004 1.14
Democratic Matt Grooms 433 0.49
Total votes 87,827 100.0

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 McDonald, Thomasi (November 18, 2020). "Nida Allam Makes History as the First Muslim Woman Elected to Public Office in North Carolina". INDY Week.
  2. 1 2 Vaughan, Dawn (November 8, 2021). "Durham's Nida Allam running for Congress in newly drawn NC district". The News & Observer. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "From Tragedy to Trailblazer". THE BITTER SOUTHERNER.
  4. ↑ "Americans share what it feels like to be told: 'Go back to where they came from'". fox43.com. July 16, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Short lines, 'good energy' at Durham polling places on Election Day". The Chronicle.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "About". Nida Allam.
  7. ↑ "Nida Allam's High School Timeline". MaxPreps.com.
  8. ↑ "Nida Allam's High School Girls Lacrosse Stats". MaxPreps.com.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Nida Allam | New Leaders Council". www.newleaderscouncil.org. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020.
  10. 1 2 "'A Really Powerful Witness': How Nida Allam Became NC's First Muslim Woman in Elected Office". Cardinal & Pine. November 9, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Chapel Hill Magazine May/June 2020". Issuu. April 29, 2020.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Allam, Nida (October 14, 2020). "Candidate Questionnaire: Nida Allam, Durham County Commissioner". INDY Week.
  13. ↑ "Nida Allam". www.vice.com.
  14. ↑ "NLC Convention: Nida Allam". nlcconvention.
  15. 1 2 "NC DOA : Nida Allam". ncadmin.nc.gov.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Jessica Campisi (March 6, 2020). "North Carolina woman says she's first Muslim American woman to win elected office in the state". CNN.
  17. ↑ NC Democratic Party elects diverse leadership team
  18. ↑ "N.C. Delegate Nida Allam on 2020 DNC". spectrumlocalnews.com.
  19. ↑ "Why We Support Nida Allam". People's Alliance PAC.
  20. ↑ "Equality North Carolina Releases Second Round Of 2020 Endorsements". EqualityNC.
  21. ↑ "Meet Nida Allam, the first Muslim woman elected to office in North Carolina". The Daily Tar Heel.
  22. ↑ "Durham County commissioner-elect becomes first Muslim woman to hold office in NC". March 5, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Durham commissioner candidate first Muslim woman elected to office in NC". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. March 5, 2020.
  24. ↑ "NC SBE Contest Results". er.ncsbe.gov. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  25. ↑ Vargas, Chanel (November 3, 2020). "Nida Allam Becomes the First Muslim-American Woman Elected as a North Carolina Official". POPSUGAR News.
  26. ↑ Atwell, Ashleigh Lakieva. "Nida Allam Is The First Muslim Woman To Hold Elected Office In North Carolina - Blavity". Blavity News & Politics.
  27. ↑ "Nida Allam, North Carolina's First Muslim Woman Elected, Sets Her Eyes On Congress". HuffPost. November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  28. 1 2 Qamar, Zoha (September 22, 2022). "More Democrats Than Ever Support The Palestinian Cause, And That's Dividing The Party". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  29. ↑ Jessica Campisi (March 6, 2020). "North Carolina woman says she's first Muslim American woman to win elected office in the state". CNN. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  30. ↑ Kassel, Matthew (November 10, 2021). "A North Carolina congressional candidate has a long history of anti-Israel activism". Jewish Insider. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  31. ↑ Allam, Nida (December 22, 2021). "Op-Ed: We Must Stand in Solidarity With Our Jewish Neighbors to Fight Rising Anti-Semitism". INDY Week. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  32. ↑ Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (March 4, 2019). "Ilhan Omar's Criticism Raises the Question: Is Aipac Too Powerful?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  33. ↑ "Buying a Blue Seat". www.theassemblync.com. May 10, 2022. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  34. ↑ "Nida Allam". November 17, 2020.
  35. ↑ "Directorate General of Immigration & Passports, Ministry of Interior, Government of Pakistan". www.dgip.gov.pk. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  36. ↑ The New and Observer (subscription required)
  37. ↑ "Nida Alam to create history once again in NC-4 Congress race". May 16, 2022.
  38. ↑ "05/17/2022 UNOFFICIAL LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS - STATEWIDE". North Carolina State Board of Elections. May 18, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
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