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Ibraheem Samirah

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Ibraheem Samirah
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 86th district
In office
February 20, 2019 – January 12, 2022
Preceded byJennifer Boysko
Succeeded byIrene Shin
Personal details
Born (1991-08-20) August 20, 1991 (age 33)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceSterling, Virginia
Alma materAmerican University (BA)
Boston University (DMD)
OccupationDentist

Ibraheem S. Samirah (born August 20, 1991) is an American politician. He served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 86th district from 2019 to 2022. First elected in a special election, his election and term were marked by controversy due to allegedly anti-semitic comments. He was defeated for re-election in the Democratic primary by Irene Shin in June 2021.

In 2023, he unsuccessfully ran against Suhas Subramanyam for the Democratic nomination for State Senate for Virginia's 32nd State Senate District.[1] In 2024, he once again ran for State Senate again losing the nomination, this time to Kannan Srinivasan. Also in 2024, he was unsuccessful in an attempt to return to the House of Delegates.

Early life and education

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Samirah was born in Chicago on August 20, 1991 to Jordanian-Palestinian parents.[2] Samirah's grandparents were Palestinian.[3] He has described his father as a community activist in the Muslim community.[4] In 2003 when Samirah was 11, his father was denied re-entry into the United States as a national security risk.[4] This resulted in the family moving to Amman, Jordan. Samirah's father was eventually readmitted to the United States in 2014 and he returned to the United States to study at American University.[4][5]

Samirah with his parents

In 2013, Samirah graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in government and political science.[6] In university, he co-founded the first-ever college chapter for Jewish Voice for Peace at American University.[7] He was an observant Muslim throughout college.[4]

He earned his Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) from the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine at Boston University in 2017.[8] While he attended dental school, Samirah was a member of Black Lives Matter, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace.[9]

Career

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Islamophobic attacks

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Samirah's first town hall after his election drew national attention after Samirah was harassed by protesters and twice asked how he planned to implement Sharia law.[10][11][12] There were about two dozen protesters, some with anti-abortion and pro-Israel signs, outside Herndon Town Hall ahead of this meeting.[13][11]

Allegations of antisemitism

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In 2014, Samirah made a series of anti-Israel posts on his Facebook account. One post reshared a letter which stated that funding Israel is like supporting the Ku Klux Klan.[14] On another post, Samirah wrote in response to the death of former prime minister of Israel Ariel Sharon that “hell is excited to have you.”[4] Samirah issued an apology for these posts in 2019 after a right-leaning website, which also broke news that led to the 2019 Virginia political crisis, publicized the posts.[14]

House of Delegates

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After Delegate Jennifer Boysko was elected to the Senate of Virginia, Samirah ran for her vacant seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, winning a special election in February 2019.[15][16] In July 2019, he heckled a speech by Donald Trump.[17][18] He ran for reelection unopposed that November.[19] In the 2020 session, Samirah backed a bill to allow for expanded absentee voting and recognize election day as a state holiday.[20]

He also supported using state legislation to preempt local zoning ordinances to allow for more multi-family residential, high-density developments on properties currently zoned for single-family detached homes only.[21][22] Samirah supported allowing property owners to convert their properties from single-family units to two-family duplexes, townhouses, or cottages in both established and new neighborhoods without going through the existing local processes for rezoning a residential property.[23][24]

He drew a challenger in the Democratic primary in 2021 and was defeated by non-profit organizer Irene Shin who went on to win the general election.[25]

In October 2021, Samirah posted on social media accusing Mossad of creating fossil fuel wars.[26]

Later campaigns

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2023 State Senate campaign

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In 2023, Samirah ran for the Virginia State Senate in the Democratic primary for Virginia's 32nd State Senate District. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by Del. Suhas Subramanyam, who went on to win the general election.[27]

2024 State Senate campaign

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In 2024, after Suhas Subramanyam's election to the United States House of Representatives, Samirah ran to replace his seat of Virginia's 32nd Senate district in a firehouse primary held on November 16, 2024, losing to Del. Kannan Srinivasan.[28][29]

2024 State House campaign

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Following Del. Kannan Srinivasan's victory in the Democratic primary special election for Virginia's 32nd Senate district, Samirah ran in a special election to replace his seat for Virginia's 26th House of Delegates district.[30][31] His residency in the district was questioned during the campaign.[32] JJ Singh won the election with Samirah coming in third.[33]

Electoral history

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February 2019 special election

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After Jennifer Boysko was elected to the Senate of Virginia, Samirah ran in the special election to complete the remainder of her term in February 2019.

Date Election Candidate Party Votes %
Virginia House of Delegates, 86th district
January 12, 2019[34] Democratic primary Ibraheem S. Samirah 733 35.8
Kofi Annan 615 30.0
Mike O'Reilly 503 24.6
Chad Thompson 196 9.6
February 19, 2019[16] Special Ibraheem S. Samirah Democratic 3,740 59.5
Gregg G. Nelson Republican 2,162 34.4
Connie H. Hutchinson Independent 370 5.9
Write Ins 13 0.2
Jennifer Boysko resigned; seat stayed Democratic

2019 general election

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Following his win in the 2019 special election, Samirah was unopposed for reelection in the November general election.

Date Election Candidate Party Votes %
Virginia House of Delegates, 86th district
November 5, 2019[35] General Ibraheem S. Samirah Democratic 14,730 88.9
Write Ins 1,836 11.1

2021 general election primary

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Samirah filed for reelection in 2021. However, he was defeated in the Democratic primary by Irene Shin.

Date Election Candidate Votes %
Virginia House of Delegates, 86th district
June 8, 2021[36] Democratic primary Irene Shin 3,415 51.7
Ibraheem S. Samirah 3,185 48.3

2023 general election

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Samirah unsuccessfully ran for State Senate in 2023 and was defeated in the primary by Suhas Subramanyam.

Date Election Candidate Votes %
Virginia State Senate, 32nd district
June 20, 2023[37] Democratic primary Suhas Subramanyam 11,178 73.7
Ibraheem S. Samirah 4,000 26.4

2024 special elections

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After Suhas Subramanyam's election to the United States House of Representatives, a special election was held for his vacant seat.[38][28][39]

Date Election Candidate Votes %
Virginia House of Delegates, 32nd district
November 13, 2024[40] Democratic primary Kannan Srinivasan 2,698 44.5%
Ibraheem Samirah 1,288 21.2%
Buta Biberaj 823 13.6%
Sreedhar Nagireddi 574 9.5%
Hurunnessa Fariad 428 7.1%
Puja Khanna 254 4.2%

Following Kannan Srinivasan's victory in the Democratic primary special election for Virginia's 32nd Senate district, a special election was held to replace his vacant seat.[41]

Date Election Candidate Votes %
Virginia House of Delegates, 26th district
November 23, 2024[41] Democratic primary JJ Singh 745 40.5%
Sam Nandi 425 23.1%
Ibraheem Samirah 323 17.6%
Arben Istrefi 280 15.2%
Lakesha Gorham-McDurfee 66 3.6%

Personal life

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Samirah lives in Sterling, Virginia.[15]

References

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  1. ^ Beaujon, Andrew (March 6, 2023). "Ibraheem Samirah Will Run for Virginia Senate". Washingtonian. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  2. ^ Cline, Nathaniel (February 19, 2019). "Democrat Ibraheem Samirah wins House of Delegates 86th District special election | News". Loudoun Times-Mirror. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  3. ^ Hantschel, Allison (September 9, 2011). "Exiled as a 'Security' Threat, Former Orland Man May Soon Return". Orland Park, IL Patch. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e Beaujon, Andrew (October 27, 2019). "Ibraheem Samirah Is Nowhere Near Done Messing With the Way Virginia Does Politics". Washingtonian. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  5. ^ "United States Court of Appeals: Samirah V. Ahscroft" (PDF). GovInfo. March 12, 2010. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  6. ^ "Bio: Ibraheem Samirah". Vote Smart. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  7. ^ Lawrence, Benjamin (November 30, 2012). "A movement grows at American University". Mondoweiss. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  8. ^ "Dr. Ibraheem Samirah Joins District Smiles As Senior Dentist In Tenleytown DC". PressCable. Marketers Media. February 11, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  9. ^ Sebastian, Dave (April 19, 2016). "Palestinian student advocates protest festival celebrating Israel Independence Day". The Daily Free Press. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  10. ^ "Muslim lawmaker says his faith attacked at first town hall". AP News. May 14, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Hall, Lorenzo (May 22, 2019). "Woman who questioned Muslim delegate about Sharia Law in Virginia says he's playing the 'victim card'". WUSA. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  12. ^ "Muslim lawmaker says his faith attacked at first town hall". The San Diego Union-Tribune. May 14, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  13. ^ Hall, Lorenzo (May 13, 2019). "Muslim state delegate asked how he plans to 'implement Sharia Law in Virginia' during town hall". WUSA. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  14. ^ a b Olivo, Antonio (February 19, 2019). "Va. Democrat who was attacked for remarks against Israel wins election for House seat". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Douglas, Catherine (February 20, 2019). "Democrat Ibraheem Samirah Wins 86th District Seat". Reston Now. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  16. ^ a b "2019 House of Delegates Special General Election District 86". Virginia Department of Elections. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  17. ^ Watson, Kathryn (September 30, 2019). "Democratic Virginia state delegate interrupts Trump's speech". CBS. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  18. ^ Rankin, Sarah; Lavoie, Denise (July 30, 2019). "Muslim Virginia lawmaker heckles Trump at Jamestown speech". AP News. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  19. ^ "2019 House of Delegates General Election District 86". Virginia Department of Elections. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  20. ^ Armstrong, Zach (January 21, 2020). "Bills to make voting easier advance in Virginia legislature". AP News. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  21. ^ Capps, Kriston (December 20, 2019). "With New Democratic Majority, Virginia Sees a Push for Denser Housing". CityLab. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  22. ^ Sisson, Patrick (December 26, 2019). "Virginia latest place to make single family zoning ban a political fight". Curbed. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  23. ^ Britschgi, Christian (December 31, 2019). "Virginia Bill Would End Single-Family-Only Zoning in the Old Dominion". Reason. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  24. ^ Yglesias, Matthew (December 27, 2019). "The telling conservative backlash to a Virginia zoning reform proposal, explained". Vox. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  25. ^ Cline, Nathaniel (June 9, 2021). "Shin unseats Samirah for Democratic nomination in 86th House District race; to face Herndon teacher Julie Perry in November". Loudoun Times. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  26. ^ Kampeas, Ron (October 23, 2021). "Virginia Democratic delegate accuses Mossad of creating 'fossil fuel wars'". The Times of Israel. JTA.
  27. ^ "Subramanyam wins Democratic primary for 32nd District Senate seat in Loudoun". Inside NOVA. June 20, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  28. ^ a b Minock, Nick (November 7, 2024). "Virginia Democrat State Senate majority hinges on Loudoun County special election". WJLA. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  29. ^ "Tumay Harding, Kannan Srinivasan to face off in VA Senate District 32 Special Election". WJLA. November 16, 2024. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  30. ^ Minock, Nick (November 20, 2024). "Five Loudoun County Democrats face off in a Saturday primary for January special election". WJLA. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  31. ^ Vozzella, Laura (November 21, 2024). "Democratic primary set for Virginia Del. Srinivasan's Loudoun-based seat". The Washington Post.
  32. ^ Minock, Nick (November 20, 2024). "Five Loudoun County Democrats face off in a Saturday primary for January special election". WJLA. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  33. ^ Pampaloni, Hanna (November 23, 2024). "Singh Earns Democratic Nomination in 26th House District Primary". LoudounNow. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  34. ^ Cline, Nathaniel (January 12, 2019). "Samirah wins Democratic nomination for 86th House of Delegates District special election". Loudoun Times-Mirror. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  35. ^ "2019 November General: Official Results". Virginia Department of Elections. Archived from the original on November 7, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  36. ^ "2021 June Democratic Primary". Virginia Department of Elections. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  37. ^ "2023 June Democratic Primary". Virginia Department of Elections. September 11, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  38. ^ "Srinivasan and Samirah announce run for Subramanyam Senate seat". VA Scope. November 6, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  39. ^ "Special election scheduled for Jan. 7, 2025, to fill vacant Virginia Senate seat". WUSA9. November 12, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
  40. ^ "BREAKING: Del. Kannan Srinivasan Wins Democratic Nomination for Upcoming (1/7/25) Virginia SD32 Special Election". Blue Virginia. November 17, 2024. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  41. ^ a b Pampaloni, Hanna (November 23, 2024). "Singh Earns Democratic Nomination in 26th House District Primary". LoudounNow. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
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