St. Louis Park appears to be the first U.S. city to have elected a Somali American mayor.

Nadia Mohamed, 27, won with 58% of the vote in Tuesday’s municipal election, defeating Dale Anderson, who got 41% of the vote. She has served on the City Council since she was elected at age 23 in 2019.

Deqa Dhalac of South Portland, Maine, was the first Somali American to serve as mayor of an American city, but she was selected by that city’s six-member council in 2021, not elected by voters.

St. Louis Park Mayor Jake Spano did not seek reelection, and he endorsed Mohamed.

Mohamed also becomes the first Black mayor and the first Muslim mayor of the west metro suburban community of 50,000.

“This is the second time I’m making history. What I had learned the first time is that this is just a milestone. It is not the destination,” Mohamed told the Sahan Journal. “It’s amazing to accomplish all these ‘firsts,’ but it is not where we want to stop our story.”

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