Wikipedia

Ibraheem Samirah

Ibraheem S. Samirah (born August 20, 1991) is an American politician. He served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 86th district from 2019 to 2022. First elected in a special election, he was defeated for re-election in the Democratic primary by Irene Shin in June 2021.

Ibraheem Samirah
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 86th district
In office
February 20, 2019 – January 12, 2022
Preceded byJennifer Boysko
Succeeded byIrene Shin
Personal details
Born (1991-08-20) August 20, 1991 (age 32)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceSterling, Virginia
Alma materAmerican University (BA)
Boston University (DMD)
OccupationDentist

In 2023, he unsuccessfully ran against Suhas Subramanyam for the Democratic nomination for State Senate for Virginia's 32nd State Senate District.[1]

Early life and education

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Samirah was born in Chicago on August 20, 1991 to Jordanian-Palestinian parents.[2] Samirah's grandparents were Palestinian.[3] He has described his father as a community activist in the Muslim community.[4] In 2003 when Samirah was 11, his father was denied re-entry into the United States as a national security risk.[4] This resulted in the family moving to Amman, Jordan. Samirah's father was eventually readmitted to the United States in 2014 and he returned to the United States to study at American University.[4][5]

 
Samirah with his parents

In 2013, Samirah graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in government and political science.[6] In university, he was active in supporting Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions with Students for Justice in Palestine and founded the first-ever college chapter for Jewish Voice for Peace at American University.[7][8] He was an observant Muslim throughout college.[4]

He earned his Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) from the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine at Boston University in 2017.[9] While he attended dental school, Samirah was a member of Black Lives Matter, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace.[10]

Policy positions

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Women's rights

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Samirah supports codifying and expanding abortion rights.[11] He voted to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.[12][13]

Energy and the environment

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Samirah supported enacting a Green New Deal at the state level.[11]

Gun rights

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Samirah supports gun control.[11]

Electoral reform

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In the 2019 session, Samirah voted in favor of the proposed amendment to the Virginia constitution to create a permanent bipartisan commission for redistricting.[14] In the 2020 session, Samirah backed a bill to allow for expanded absentee voting and recognize election day as a state holiday.[15] Samirah supports adopting automatic voter registration.[16]

Marijuana legalization

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Samirah supports legalizing cannabis for recreational use.[11]

Health care

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Samirah favors universal health care at the state level.[11]

Labor relations

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Samirah supports expanding union and worker rights such as removing Virginia's right-to-work law.[11]

Zoning reform

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He supports using state legislation to preempt local zoning ordinances to allow for more multi-family residential, high-density developments on properties currently zoned for single-family detached homes only.[17][18] Samirah supported allowing property owners to convert their properties from single-family units to two-family duplexes, townhouses, or cottages in both established and new neighborhoods without going through the existing local processes for rezoning a residential property.[19][20]

Antisemitism

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In 2014, Samirah made a series of anti-Israel posts on his Facebook account. One post stated that "funding Israel is like supporting the Ku Klux Klan". On another post, Samirah wrote in response to the death of Ariel Sharon that the former prime minister of Israel should "burn a million times for every innocent soul you killed" along with "our beloved Arab 'leaders' (butchers I should say)" adding that “hell is excited to have you”.[4] In 2019, these posts were resurfaced by Big League Politics, and Samirah was criticized by political opponents and accused of racism and antisemitism.

Though Samirah apologized for the posts, he later characterized attacks on him as "a smear campaign" and accused Democrats of having "succumbed to the extreme-right propaganda machine" in objecting to his comments.[21][22]

House of Delegates

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After Delegate Jennifer Boysko was elected to the Senate of Virginia, Samirah ran for her vacant seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, winning a special election in February 2019.[23][24] In July 2019, he heckled a speech by Donald Trump.[25][26] He ran for reelection unopposed that November.[27]

He drew a challenger in the Democratic primary in 2021 and was defeated by non-profit organizer Irene Shin who went on to win the general election.[28][29]

Following his defeat in October 2021, Samirah spread conspiracy theories accusing Mossad of creating "fossil fuel wars" with "malicious intent".[30]

Electoral history

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February 2019 special election

After Jennifer Boysko was elected to the Senate of Virginia, Samirah ran in the special election to complete the remainder of her term in February 2019.

Date Election Candidate Party Votes %
Virginia House of Delegates, 86th district
January 12, 2019[31] Democratic primary Ibraheem S. Samirah 733 35.8
Kofi Annan 615 30.0
Mike O'Reilly 503 24.6
Chad Thompson 196 9.6
February 19, 2019[24] Special Ibraheem S. Samirah Democratic 3,740 59.5
Gregg G. Nelson Republican 2,162 34.4
Connie H. Hutchinson Independent 370 5.9
Write Ins 13 0.2
Jennifer Boysko resigned; seat stayed Democratic 
2019 general election

Following his win in the 2019 special election, Samirah was unopposed for reelection in the November general election.

Date Election Candidate Party Votes %
Virginia House of Delegates, 86th district
November 5, 2019[32] General Ibraheem S. Samirah Democratic 14,730 88.9
Write Ins 1,836 11.1 
2021 general election primary

Samirah filed for reelection in 2021. However, he was defeated in the Democratic primary by Irene Shin.

Date Election Candidate Party Votes %
Virginia House of Delegates, 86th district
June 8, 2021[33] Democratic primary Irene Shin 3,415 51.7
Ibraheem S. Samirah 3,185 48.3 
2023 general election

Samirah unsuccessfully ran for State Senate in 2023 and was defeated in the primary by Suhas Subramanyam.

Date Election Candidate Party Votes %
Virginia State Senate, 32nd district
June 20, 2023[34] Democratic primary Suhas Subramanyam 11,178 73.7
Ibraheem S. Samirah 4,000 26.4

Personal life

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Samirah lives in Sterling, Virginia.[23]

References

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  1. ^ "Ibraheem Samirah Will Run for Virginia Senate - Washingtonian". March 6, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  2. ^ Cline, Nathaniel (February 19, 2019). "Democrat Ibraheem Samirah wins House of Delegates 86th District special election | News". loudountimes.com. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  3. ^ "Exiled as a 'Security' Threat, Former Orland Man May Soon Return". Orland Park, IL Patch. September 9, 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e Beaujon, Andrew (October 27, 2019). "Ibraheem Samirah Is Nowhere Near Done Messing With the Way Virginia Does Politics". Washingtonian. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  5. ^ Moran, James (March 12, 2010). "United States Court of Appeals: Samirah V. Ahscroft" (PDF). Govinfo.Gov. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  6. ^ "Bio: Ibraheem Samirah". Vote Smart. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  7. ^ "Being a Palestinian-American". Her Campus. April 2, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  8. ^ "A movement grows at American University". Mondoweiss. November 30, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  9. ^ "Dr. Ibraheem Samirah Joins District Smiles As Senior Dentist In Tenleytown DC". PressCable. MarketersMEDIA. February 11, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  10. ^ Sebastian, Dave (April 19, 2016). "Palestinian student advocates protest festival celebrating Israel Independence Day". The Daily Free Press. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Leahy, Norman (November 14, 2019). "Bipartisan excess threatens to engulf Virginia politics". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  12. ^ "Bill Tracking - 2020 session > Legislation". lis.virginia.gov. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  13. ^ "Virginia Recorded Vote - General Assembly Votes". recordedvote.org. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  14. ^ "HJ 615 Constitutional amendment; Virginia Redistricting Commission (first reference)". Lis.Virginia.Gov. February 23, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  15. ^ Armstrong, Zach (January 21, 2020). "Bills to make voting easier advance in Virginia legislature". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  16. ^ "Priorities". Samirah 4 Delegate. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  17. ^ Capps, Kriston (December 20, 2019). "With New Democratic Majority, Virginia Sees a Push for Denser Housing". CityLab. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  18. ^ Sisson, Patrick (December 26, 2019). "Virginia latest place to make single family zoning ban a political fight". Curbed. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  19. ^ Britschgi, Christian (December 31, 2019). "Virginia Bill Would End Single-Family-Only Zoning in the Old Dominion". Reason. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  20. ^ Yglesias, Matthew (December 27, 2019). "The telling conservative backlash to a Virginia zoning reform proposal, explained". Vox. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  21. ^ Cline, Nathaniel (February 11, 2019). "Democratic House of Delegates candidate says he's 'so sorry' after anti-Semitic comments". Loudoun Times-Mirror. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  22. ^ Olivo, Antonia (February 19, 2019). "Va. Democrat who was attacked for remarks against Israel wins election for House seat". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  23. ^ a b Douglas, Catherine (February 20, 2019). "Democrat Ibraheem Samirah Wins 86th District Seat". Reston Now. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  24. ^ a b "2019 February 19 Special: Official Results". Virginia Department of Elections. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  25. ^ Watson, Kathryn (September 30, 2019). "Democratic Virginia state delegate interrupts Trump's speech". CBS. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  26. ^ "Muslim Virginia lawmaker heckles Trump at Jamestown speech". AP News. July 30, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  27. ^ "Ibraheem Samirah". Ballotpedia. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  28. ^ Cline, Nathaniel (June 9, 2021). "Shin unseats Samirah for Democratic nomination in 86th House District race; to face Herndon teacher Julie Perry in November". Loudoun Times. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  29. ^ Nathaniel Cline (June 9, 2021). "Shin unseats Samirah for Democratic nomination in 86th House District race; to face Herndon teacher Julie Perry in November". LoudounTimes.com. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  30. ^ Kampeas, Ron (October 23, 2021). "Virginia Democratic delegate accuses Mossad of creating 'fossil fuel wars'". Times of Israel. JTA.
  31. ^ "Samirah wins Democratic nomination for 86th House of Delegates District special election". Loudoun Times-Mirror. January 12, 2019. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  32. ^ "2019 November General: Official Results". Virginia Department of Elections. Archived from the original on November 7, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  33. ^ "2021 June Democratic Primary". results.elections.virginia.gov. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  34. ^ "2023 June Democratic Primary". elections.virginia.gov. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
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