# Zaynab Mohamed (Saynab Maxamed)

> Zaynab Mohamed (b.1997): Somali-born Minnesota state senator, youngest woman in the legislature.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/zaynab-mohamed/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who is she?

Zaynab Mohamed is an American politician who has served in the Minnesota State Senate since 2023, representing District 63 in south-east Minneapolis for the DFL ([Wikipedia, Zaynab Mohamed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaynab_Mohamed)). She was born on 3 May 1997 and came from Somalia with her family at nine, growing up in Minneapolis's Powderhorn neighbourhood (same source). She graduated from the University of Minnesota in human resources in 2019 (same source). See [Somalis in Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Before the Senate

She worked as community advocacy manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minnesota, volunteered full-time on Omar Fateh's 2020 state Senate campaign, and from January 2022 was a policy aide to Minneapolis council member Jason Chavez ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaynab_Mohamed)).

## State Senate

When Patricia Torres Ray did not stand again in 2022, Mohamed ran with her endorsement on a $15 minimum wage, universal health care and public safety reform ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaynab_Mohamed)). She beat Todd Scott in the primary and Republican Shawn Holster in the general election (same source). With Erin Maye Quade and Clare Oumou Verbeten she was among the first Black women elected to the Minnesota Senate, and she is the youngest woman ever elected to the legislature (same source). Omar Fateh is her brother-in-law (same source).

## In short

A Somali-born Minneapolis organiser who became Minnesota's youngest woman legislator.

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