Four Nigerian-Americans have emerged victorious in the 2026 United States mid-term elections, securing positions in local government and state legislatures across the country.
The winners are Will Jawando, Junior Ezeonu, Oye Owolewa and Carol Kazeem, who contested on the platform of the Democratic Party.
According to election results released on Wednesday, the candidates won seats in Maryland, Texas, Washington DC and Pennsylvania.
Jawando emerged victorious in the race for Montgomery County executive in Maryland, defeating Republican candidate Esther Wells.
The 43-year-old, who previously served as an at-large council member, campaigned on improving education funding and expanding access to affordable housing.
Born in Montgomery County to a Nigerian father, Olayinka Jawando, and an American mother, he secured the party’s nomination after defeating two council colleagues in the June primary.
In Texas, 27-year-old Junior Ezeonu won a seat in the state’s House of Representatives for District 101.
Ezeonu, who was born in Onitsha, Anambra State, and relocated to Texas at the age of two, defeated Christ Turner in the Democratic primary.
He previously served on the Grand Prairie City Council, where he was elected in 2021 and later became the city’s youngest mayor pro tempore.
Meanwhile, Oye Owolewa secured an at-large seat on the Washington DC Council after polling 69 per cent of the votes to defeat independent candidate Elissa Silverman, who garnered 21 per cent.
Owolewa, a pharmacist born to Nigerian immigrants from Kwara and Osun states, previously served as a shadow representative.
He has consistently highlighted his Nigerian heritage as an important part of his political identity.
In Pennsylvania, Carol Kazeem retained her seat in the state’s House of Representatives for District 159 after defeating Republican challenger Michael Bannon.
Kazeem, who was born in Pennsylvania, first won the seat in the 2022 mid-term elections and was among eight Nigerian-Americans elected into public office at the time.
Meanwhile, another Nigerian-born Democrat, Segun Adeyina, is seeking re-election to the Georgia House of Representatives.
Early results showed Adeyina leading with 1,353 votes against 689 votes recorded by his Republican challenger, Charles Lollar, as vote counting continued.
The victories come amid a strong performance by Democrats in the mid-term elections, with the party reportedly gaining control of both chambers of the US Congress.
