List of Arab and Middle Eastern Americans in the United States Congress
This is a list of Arab Americans and Middle Eastern Americans in the U.S. Congress. This list would include North Africans in the United States who identify as Arab as well as non-Arab Middle Eastern Americans.
The first Arab American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives was George A. Kasem in 1959, and the first Arab-American U.S. Senator was James Abourezk in 1973. In the 115th Congress, there were six U.S. Representatives and no U.S. Senators of Arab-American descent serving in Congress.[1][2] On November 6, 2018, four additional Arab Americans, all of whom are female, were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives: Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Ilhan Omar, Donna Shalala and Rashida Tlaib. Tlaib and Omar were also the first Muslim women in Congress.[3] The U.S. House of Representatives currently has five Arab-American members.
The first Assyrian American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives was Adam Benjamin in 1977,[4] and the first Iranian-American U.S. Representative was Stephanie Bice in 2021.[5] There currently is one Assyrian-American and one Iranian-American U.S. Representative serving in Congress.
Senate
Picture | Senator (lifespan) |
Arab or Middle Eastern ethnicity | Party | State | Term start | Term end | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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James Abourezk (born 1931) |
Lebanese | Democratic | South Dakota | January 3, 1973 | January 3, 1979 | Retired[6] |
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George J. Mitchell (born 1933) |
Lebanese | Democratic | Maine | May 17, 1980 | January 3, 1995 | Retired[7] |
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James Abdnor (1923–2012) |
Lebanese | Republican | South Dakota | January 3, 1981 | January 3, 1987 | Lost reelection[8] |
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Spencer Abraham (born 1952) |
Lebanese | Republican | Michigan | January 3, 1995 | January 3, 2001 | Lost reelection[9][10] |
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John E. Sununu (born 1964) |
Palestinian, Lebanese |
Republican | New Hampshire | January 3, 2003 | January 3, 2009 | Lost reelection[11][12] |
House of Representatives
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|
Picture | Representative (lifespan) |
Arab or Middle Eastern ethnicity | Party | State | Term start | Term end | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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George A. Kasem (1919–2002) |
Lebanese | Democratic | California | January 3, 1959 | January 3, 1961 | Lost reelection |
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Abraham Kazen (1919–1987) |
Lebanese | Democratic | Texas | January 3, 1967 | January 3, 1985 | Lost renomination |
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James Abourezk (born 1931) |
Lebanese | Democratic | South Dakota | January 3, 1971 | January 3, 1973 | Retired to run successfully for U.S. Senator from South Dakota |
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James Abdnor (1923–2012) |
Lebanese | Republican | South Dakota | January 3, 1973 | January 3, 1981 | Retired to run successfully for U.S. Senator from South Dakota |
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Toby Moffett (born 1944) |
Lebanese | Democratic | Connecticut | January 3, 1975 | January 3, 1983 | Retired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senator from Connecticut |
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Adam Benjamin (1935–1982) |
Assyrian | Democratic | Indiana | January 3, 1977 | September 7, 1982 | Died in office |
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Mary Rose Oakar (born 1940) |
Lebanese, Syrian |
Democratic | Ohio | January 3, 1977 | January 3, 1993 | Lost reelection |
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Nick Rahall (born 1949) |
Lebanese | Democratic | West Virginia | January 3, 1977 | January 3, 2015 | Lost reelection |
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Pat Danner (born 1934) |
Lebanese | Democratic | Missouri | January 3, 1993 | January 3, 2001 | Retired |
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Anna Eshoo (born 1942) |
Assyrian | Democratic | California | January 3, 1993 | Incumbent | |
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John Baldacci (born 1955) |
Lebanese | Democratic | Maine | January 3, 1995 | January 3, 2003 | Retired to run successfully for Governor of Maine |
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Ray LaHood (born 1945) |
Lebanese | Republican | Illinois | January 3, 1995 | January 3, 2009 | Retired to become U.S. Secretary of Transportation |
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Chris John (born 1960) |
Lebanese | Democratic | Louisiana | January 3, 1997 | January 3, 2005 | Retired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senator from Louisiana |
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John E. Sununu (born 1964) |
Palestinian, Lebanese |
Republican | New Hampshire | January 3, 1997 | January 3, 2003 | Retired to run successfully for U.S. Senator from New Hampshire |
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Darrell Issa (born 1953) |
Lebanese | Republican | California | January 3, 2001 | January 3, 2019 | Retired |
January 3, 2021 | Incumbent | ||||||
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Charles Boustany (born 1956) |
Lebanese | Republican | Louisiana | January 3, 2005 | January 3, 2017 | Retired to run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senator from Louisiana |
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Justin Amash (born 1980) |
Palestinian, Syrian |
Republican (2011–2019) |
Michigan | January 3, 2011 | January 3, 2021 | Retired |
Independent (2019–2020) | |||||||
Libertarian (2020–2021) | |||||||
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Richard L. Hanna (1951–2020) |
Lebanese | Republican | New York | January 3, 2011 | January 3, 2017 | Retired |
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Ralph Abraham (born 1954) |
Lebanese | Republican | Louisiana | January 3, 2015 | January 3, 2021 | Retired |
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Gwen Graham (born 1963) |
Lebanese | Democratic | Florida | January 3, 2015 | January 3, 2017 | Retired |
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Garret Graves (born 1972) |
Lebanese | Republican | Louisiana | January 3, 2015 | Incumbent | |
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Darin LaHood (born 1968) |
Lebanese | Republican | Illinois | September 10, 2015 | Incumbent | |
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Charlie Crist (born 1956) |
Lebanese | Democratic | Florida | January 3, 2017 | August 31, 2022 | Resigned |
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Rubén Kihuen (born 1980) |
Lebanese | Democratic | Nevada | January 3, 2017 | January 3, 2019 | Retired |
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Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (born 1971) |
Lebanese | Democratic | Florida | January 3, 2019 | January 3, 2021 | Lost reelection |
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Ilhan Omar (born 1981) |
Somali[Note 1] | Democratic | Minnesota | January 3, 2019 | Incumbent | |
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Donna Shalala (born 1941) |
Lebanese | Democratic | Florida | January 3, 2019 | January 3, 2021 | Lost reelection |
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Rashida Tlaib (born 1976) |
Palestinian | Democratic | Michigan | January 3, 2019 | Incumbent | |
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Stephanie Bice (born 1973) |
Iranian | Republican | Oklahoma | January 3, 2021 | Incumbent |
References
- Notes
- ^ Although Somalis are not considered ethnically Arab, Somalia is considered to be part of the Arab World, being part of the Arab League, and Omar is listed in the Arab American Institute's list of officeholders.[13] She is also listed at List of African-American United States representatives.
- References
- ^ "Meet Arab American Members in 115th Congress - Arab American Institute". www.aaiusa.org.
- ^ "Arab American Members of Congress - Arab American Leadership Council Political Action Committee". www.aaleadershipcouncil.org.
- ^ Boorstein, Michelle. "The nation's first two Muslim congresswomen are sworn in, surrounded by the women they inspired". Washington Post. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- ^ "Assyrians in Middle America A Historical and Demographic Study of the Chicago Assyrian Community" (PDF). jaas.org. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ^ Firozi, Paulina. "House GOP chipped away at Democratic majority. They can thank female candidates" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
- ^ Hall, Loretta (1999). "James Abourezk". Arab American biography. Vol. I: A-J. Detroit: U.X.L. pp. 18–25. ISBN 978-0-7876-2953-3.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Hall, Loretta (1999). "George John Mitchell". Arab American biography. Vol. II: K-Z. Detroit: U.X.L. pp. 311–316. ISBN 978-0-7876-2953-3.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Schudel, Matt (May 16, 2012). "James Abdnor, GOP congressman and senator from South Dakota, dies at 89". The Washington Post.
- ^ Hall, Loretta (1999). "Spencer Abraham". Arab American biography. Vol. I: A-J. Detroit: U.X.L. pp. 33–38. ISBN 978-0-7876-2953-3.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "Bioguide Search". bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
- ^ Cromwell, Sharon (2008). Arab Americans. Florida: Rourke Publishing. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-60472-751-7.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "John E. Sununu". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
- ^ "Arab American Roster". Arab American Institute. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
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