How many Muslim Americans have been elected to Congress and statewide offices between 2015 and 2025?

1. Congressional headcount: how many Muslim Americans in — and elected to — Congress by 2025

Multiple sources converge that the 119th Congress included four Muslim House members: André Carson (IN), Ilhan Omar (MN), Rashida Tlaib (MI), and Lateefah Simon (CA), with Pew identifying Simon as the one Muslim newcomer in 2025 ^{[1] [7]}. Other lists state there have been five Muslims elected to Congress overall as of 2025 (counting earlier members such as Keith Ellison), while noting no Muslim has served in the U.S. Senate as of these reports ^{[2] [8]}. Those two figures address related but different questions: “How many currently serve?” (four in the 119th Congress) versus “How many Muslims have ever been elected to Congress by 2025?” (sources say five) ^{[1] [2]}.

2. What the “five elected” figure means and potential counting differences

When sources say “five Muslims have been elected to Congress,” they are counting historically elected members (the earliest being Keith Ellison in 2006) and appear to include both current and former members in that total ^{[8] [2]}. Other trackers and advocacy groups emphasize the four currently serving as of the 119th Congress, reflecting turnover and recent 2024–2025 elections ^{[1] [7]}. Differences can arise from who is included (e.g., members raised in Muslim families but identifying differently, or recently elected members whose status was still being reported) ^[2].

3. Statewide offices and milestone wins: notable firsts in 2025

News outlets and advocacy groups reported several landmark 2025 victories: Zohran Mamdani was elected New York City mayor and Ghazala Hashmi won a statewide office in Virginia (Lieutenant Governor), described as a first for a Muslim American woman in statewide office; these accounts frame 2025 as a year of historic breakthroughs ^{[6] [5] [9]}. NewArab and The New York Times highlight Mamdani’s and Hashmi’s wins as barrier-breaking moments in major municipal and statewide politics ^{[6] [9]}.

4. The “42 Muslim Americans” figure: what it covers and caution about scope

Several outlets — Radiance News, Muslim Network TV, and others — reported that 42 Muslim Americans were elected to public office in the 2025 cycle, describing the total as including mayors, state legislators, judges, and many local offices ^{[4] [3]}. Advocacy organizations such as CAIR planned a 2025–2026 directory to document those officeholders, implying the number aggregates local and county-level wins as well as some higher-profile positions ^[3]. These reports do not break down how many of the 42 were “statewide” officeholders versus municipal, county, school board, or legislative positions — and the sources do not present a verified, itemized national list in the excerpts provided ^{[4] [3]}.

5. Where the gaps and ambiguities remain

Available sources do not provide a definitive, audited count of Muslim Americans elected specifically to statewide offices nationwide between 2015 and 2025; instead, they deliver (a) a clear snapshot of Congressional representation (four serving in the 119th Congress; five ever elected by some tallies) and (b) a broad, widely cited tally of 42 Muslim Americans elected to public offices in the 2025 cycle that includes many local posts ^{[1] [2] [4]}. For a precise answer to “how many were elected to statewide offices between 2015 and 2025,” current reporting in these sources does not list a comprehensive, source-attributed count broken out by office type ^{[4] [3]}.

6. Takeaway and recommended next steps for verification

If you need a strict, itemized count of Muslim Americans elected to statewide offices (governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and similar) during 2015–2025, the sources above do not provide that break‑out; compiling it would require cross‑referencing state election results and the CAIR/other directories mentioned ^{[3] [7]}. For Congressional totals, cite four serving in the 119th Congress and that some sources count five Muslims elected to Congress historically as of 2025 ^{[1] [2]}.