Four Nigerian-Americans have won elective positions in the November 3, 2026, midterm elections in the United States, securing victories in Maryland, Texas, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania.
The winners are Will Jawando, Junior Ezeonu, Oye Owolewa and Carol Kazeem, who secured positions in local government and state legislatures.
Meanwhile, the outcome of another Nigerian-American candidate, Segun Adeyina, remained undecided in Georgia as vote counting continued on Wednesday.
In Maryland, Democrat Will Jawando won the race for Montgomery County executive, defeating Republican candidate Esther Wells.
Results published by NBC Washington on Wednesday showed Jawando leading with 237,383 votes, representing 78.15 per cent, against Wells’s 66,383 votes, or 21.85 per cent. About 72 per cent of the expected votes had been counted at the time.
Jawando, a former member of the Montgomery County Council, is the son of a Nigerian father and an American mother. His Nigerian heritage and political career have featured in reports by The Baltimore Banner and The Washington Post.
In Texas, 27-year-old Junior Ezeonu secured a seat in the state House of Representatives for District 101.
Ezeonu defeated incumbent Chris Turner in the Democratic primary and was the only candidate on the ballot in the November general election after no Republican entered the race.
According to his campaign biography, Ezeonu was born in Onitsha, Anambra State, and moved to Texas at the age of two.
He was elected to the Grand Prairie City Council in 2021 and later became the city’s youngest mayor pro tempore.
In Washington, DC, Democrat Oye Owolewa won an at-large seat on the District of Columbia Council.
Local publication The 51st reported that Owolewa secured 69 per cent of the vote, compared with 21 per cent for independent candidate Elissa Silverman.
Owolewa, a pharmacist and son of Nigerian immigrants from Kwara and Osun states, previously served as the District’s elected shadow representative.
The shadow representative position allows its holder to advocate for Washington, DC, statehood but does not confer voting rights in the US Congress.
In Pennsylvania, Democrat Carol Kazeem retained her seat in the state House of Representatives, representing District 159.
However, the outcome of Segun Adeyina’s contest in Georgia had yet to be declared as votes were still being counted on Wednesday.
The victories highlight the growing participation of Nigerian-Americans in elective politics across different levels of government in the United States.
