How old was Ilhan Omar when she first held public office in Minnesota?
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Executive summary
Ilhan Omar was 34 years old when she first held public office in Minnesota: she won election to the Minnesota House of Representatives in November 2016 and began serving in the state legislature in January 2017, having been born October 4, 1982 (which made her 34 at both the election and the start of her term) [1][2][3].
1. Birth date and baseline facts
Public biographical records consistently list Ilhan Abdullahi Omar’s date of birth as October 4, 1982, a datum reported by major references including Wikipedia and Britannica and echoed in congressional archival entries, establishing the baseline for any age calculation [1][4][5].
2. The first public office she held in Minnesota
The first public office Omar held in Minnesota was as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives for District 60B; her successful campaign was in the 2016 election cycle and her term in the state legislature covered 2017–2019, marking the official start of her elected public service at the state level [1][2][6].
3. Election date and assumption of office — the timing that sets the age
Omar won the general election on November 8, 2016 (the 2016 general election), and the legislative term she won is recorded as beginning in 2017, which is the standard schedule for Minnesota state legislators and is reflected in the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library and contemporaneous reporting [2][3]. Because her birthdate is October 4, 1982, she had turned 34 shortly before the November 2016 election and was still 34 when she assumed office in January 2017 [1][2].
4. Conflicting reports and why they exist
Some outlets and derivative pages have reported alternate birth years (for example, a 1981 year appears in certain summaries like Simple English Wikipedia), and the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library notes that a 1981 birth year is incorrectly reported in some sources, which is why authoritative state and congressional records are used to resolve the discrepancy [2][7]. Independent reporting at the time also described her as being 34 at her 2016 victory, reinforcing the 1982 birth year and the age-34 conclusion [3].
5. Context and significance of her age at first office
Being 34 when she began serving in the Minnesota House placed Omar among a younger cohort of state legislators and was frequently highlighted in coverage of her 2016 victory, which emphasized both her status as the first Somali-American elected to a state legislature and the generational inflection her campaign symbolized in Minneapolis politics [3][4]. The precise age is sometimes treated as shorthand in media narratives to underline youth and new representation, which has political significance for opponents and supporters alike, hence the attention to accurate biographical details in reference sources and state records [3][2].