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Which U.S. states have Muslim state legislators in 2025 and how many per state?
Executive summary
Available reporting compiled here does not produce a single, authoritative roster listing every U.S. state with Muslim state legislators in 2025 or an exact per‑state count; instead, multiple articles and databases report individual historic firsts and scattered tallies (for example: sources note “a record 12 Arabs and Muslims” elected to state legislatures across six states in a 2025 midterm summary [1], and broader tallies of Muslim officeholders in 2025 put local and statewide wins across at least nine states [2]). No single source in the provided set gives a complete state-by-state count for 2025; available sources mention specific states and named officials but stop short of a comprehensive table [2] [1] [3].
1. What the sources actually report — named wins and “firsts”
Reporting highlights several headline victories and historic firsts: Ghazala Hashmi became the first Muslim woman elected to a statewide office in Virginia as lieutenant governor [4]; Zohran Mamdani was projected as New York City’s first Muslim mayor [2] [5]; and multiple accounts list Muslim mayors and local officials in Michigan and New Jersey among 42 Muslim Americans elected in 2025 across nine states, according to CAIR and some outlets [2]. These items show clear single-state presence but do not, by themselves, produce a full per‑state tally [2] [3] [4].
2. Fragmentary tallies and competing claims
Some outlets present larger, nation‑level counts — for example, one piece claims “42 Muslim Americans elected to public office” across nine states in 2025 [2] — but other sources emphasize different groupings (e.g., “a record 12 Arabs and Muslims won seats in the legislatures of six US states” in midterm reporting) [1]. These differences reflect varying definitions (Muslim vs. Arab and Muslim), different cut‑offs (state legislatures only vs. all public offices), and distinct source methodologies; the materials provided do not reconcile those approaches into a single authoritative per‑state breakdown [2] [1].
3. Examples of states and legislators cited in the reporting
Sources explicitly name individual Muslim legislators and officials tied to particular states: Michigan (Abdullah Hammoud, Mo Baydoun, and local officials) [2]; Maryland (Faizul Kabir) [2]; New Jersey (Ted Green; school‑board and local wins noted) [2]; Virginia (Ghazala Hashmi) [4]; Colorado (Iman Jodeh cited as Colorado’s first Muslim legislator in earlier reporting) [6]; Minnesota, Illinois, Georgia, Ohio, Maine, Texas and others appear across pieces as states with Muslim or Arab/Muslim state legislators or local officeholders in prior cycles [1] [7] [8]. None of the provided pieces list a complete per‑state count for 2025 state legislative chambers [2] [1] [3].
4. Why you see disagreement or gaps in counts
Discrepancies arise because different sources: (a) count only state legislators versus all elected public offices (mayors, judges, school boards, city councils); (b) mix “Muslim” with “Arab and Muslim” categories; and (c) compile on different schedules (midterms vs. post‑November certification). For example, CAIR‑centred tallies cited in one piece aggregate city, county and school board wins into a 42‑figure across nine states which is not the same as a count limited to state legislators alone [2]. Another article focuses on “12 Arabs and Muslims” elected specifically to state legislatures across six states, a narrower framing [1].
5. What current sources do not provide
None of the provided sources publish a single, verifiable list that names every state that had a Muslim state legislator in 2025 and the exact number per state. If you need a state‑by‑state count limited strictly to state legislative chambers in 2025, that is not found in the current reporting set; available sources do not mention a complete per‑state table or unified methodology for that exact request [2] [1].
6. How to get a definitive per‑state number (recommended next steps)
To produce the precise state‑by‑state tally you asked for, consult (a) official state legislature biographical directories and sworn‑in member rosters for 2025, (b) CAIR’s 2025 Directory of Elected Muslim Officials if published (p1_s3 suggests CAIR compiles such directories), and (c) nonpartisan databases like Ballotpedia or state legislative reference services; those data sources would allow one to cross‑check names, religious self‑identification, and chamber membership to build an accurate table [9]. The articles here point to where wins occurred but do not substitute for that verification [2] [1].
Limitations: This analysis uses only the supplied articles and explicitly notes where they report names or broader tallies; a full state‑by‑state count is not available in these sources [2] [1].