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Which U.S. states and districts have elected Muslim members of Congress between 2015 and 2025?
Executive summary
Between 2015 and early 2025, U.S. House members publicly identified as Muslim have represented at least four states and one district: Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, and (starting in the 119th Congress) California, plus the District of Columbia is not listed in available sources; no Muslim has served in the U.S. Senate during this period [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and organizational statements count three Muslim members through 2023–24 (André Carson — Indiana; Ilhan Omar — Minnesota; Rashida Tlaib — Michigan) and note Lateefah Simon’s 2024 election as the first Muslim representative from California, bringing the total Muslim House delegation to four in the 119th Congress [1] [2] [4].
1. The simple list: which states elected Muslim House members 2015–2025
Contemporary accounting in news and research shows Muslim-identifying members in the House from: Minnesota (Ilhan Omar), Michigan (Rashida Tlaib), Indiana (André Carson), and California (Lateefah Simon, elected Nov. 2024 and seated Jan. 2025) [1] [2] [4]. Sources emphasize these four as the active Muslim House delegation in the 119th Congress [3].
2. Who they are and when they served — short biographies in context
André Carson has been a long-serving member from Indiana (re-elected multiple times) and was counted among the three Muslims in Congress as of the 118th session [1]. Ilhan Omar (Minnesota) and Rashida Tlaib (Michigan) were first elected in 2018 and were part of the Muslim contingent re-elected into the 2023–24 Congress [5] [1]. Lateefah Simon won California’s 12th district in November 2024 and began serving in January 2025, described by advocacy groups and outlets as the first Muslim elected from California [2] [4].
3. How many Muslims in Congress changed over the decade — numbers and milestones
Pew’s religious-composition reporting counted three Muslim members in the 118th Congress (Carson, Omar, Tlaib) and then documented a rise to four in the 119th Congress with Simon’s arrival [1] [6]. Aggregated lists and encyclopedic pages tracked five individuals who have ever been elected to Congress by 2025 (counting past members), while noting that all Muslim representation in this era has been in the House, not the Senate [3] [7].
4. What’s not in the sources — limits and gaps you should know
Available sources do not mention any Muslim U.S. Senators serving between 2015 and 2025; multiple entries explicitly state no Muslim has served in the Senate as of the 119th Congress [3] [7]. Sources provided do not supply a comprehensive roster of every election result by year or an exhaustive list of nominees who were Muslim but lost; they focus on successful members and on notable firsts like California’s first Muslim member [2] [4].
5. Different framings and possible agendas in the coverage
Advocacy groups such as CAIR framed Simon’s election as a milestone for Muslim representation and civil-rights progress, an explicitly celebratory take that spotlights identity and community impact [4]. News outlets and reference pages (Wikipedia-derived sites and international press) emphasize “firsts” and numerical growth, which highlights representational milestones but may understate partisan, geographic, or policy cross-currents attached to individual members [2] [3].
6. Broader context: representation, party, and geographic concentration
Reporting and research note that Muslims in Congress during this window served in the House and were Democrats (the cited lists and Pew analysis point to Democratic affiliation for the Muslim members listed), and that their districts are clustered in specific states with larger Muslim or diverse urban populations [1] [3]. This geographic concentration helps explain why representation grew incrementally rather than broadly across many states [1].
7. Bottom line and what further information would help
Current reporting supports naming four states (Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, California) that elected Muslim House members by early 2025, with no Muslim senators in that period and with some sources counting a total of five people ever elected to Congress who have identified as Muslim [3] [7]. For a fully granular year-by-year roster (including special elections, retirements, and any short-term members), consult primary congressional records or state election results; available sources here focus on the headline representatives and milestones rather than exhaustive electoral tables [8] [1].