LEWISTON — A man originally from Somalia has become the first African immigrant to win elected office in Lewiston, a city that has long had a significant Somali population.
Write-in candidate Jama Mohamed picked up 10 additional votes at a Thursday recount to win a seat on the school committee.
The 29-year-old Mohamed will be sworn into office in January.
Mohamed tells the Sun Journal that serving on the committee is “a lot of responsibility.”
Mohamed came to the United States in 2004 and to Lewiston in 2008. The father of six works as a case manager and interpreter at Trinity Jubilee Center and is co-founder of a student mentoring organization.
A Somali-American woman previously served on the city’s school committee, but she was appointed, not elected.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less