Abdi Warsame

Abdi Warsame (Somali: Cabdi Warsame, Arabic: عبدي وارسام‎‎) (born 1978) is a Somali-American politician and member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In November 2013, he was elected to the Minneapolis City Council, becoming the first Somali to be elected to the position.

Early life and education

Warsame was born on March 5, 1978 in Mogadishu, Somalia. In the late 1980s, along with his family, Warsame moved to London.

Warsame earned a B.S. in Business from the Middlesex University. He also holds a master's degree in International Business from the University of Greenwich.

In 2006, Warsame settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Career

Early career

Warsame first entered politics in 2011, while working on Mohamud Noor's campaign for a state Senate seat on a DFL ticket.

Warsame was the founder and spokesperson for the Citizen's Committee for Fair Redistricting, which took part in the Minneapolis redistricting process. The group lobbied the Minneapolis Charter Commission to redraw the municipality's political districts so as to maximize the East African community's vote. The commission concurred and established a number of new precincts in Ward 6.

Warsame chaired the Cedar Riverside-Neighborhood Revitalization Program and served as Executive Director of the Riverside Plaza Tenants Association, which represents the tenants of Riverside Plaza.

Minneapolis City Council

2013 Election

Warsame ran in the 2013 Minneapolis municipal elections to represent Ward 6 on the Minneapolis City Council.

Somali-American professionals contributed significantly to Warsame's election campaign. His campaign finance filings put him among the top tier of successful fundraisers in Minneapolis' 13 wards. Lawyer and political operative Brian Rice was Warsame's strategist for the campaign.

Warsame's campaign was criticized by DFLer Robert Lilligren's caucus captain Maryam Marne Zafar, who alleged that Warsame supporters tried to turn voters away from Lilligren by highlighting the fact that Lilligren was openly gay. Lilligren also charged that Warsame supporters had capitalized on language barriers to win votes. Warsame dismissed the claims as sour grapes stemming from a lack of support for Lilligren's campaign, and added that he specifically told members of his political team not to use Lilligren's sexual orientation as a talking point. A DFL committee also rejected the Lilligren team's allegations.

Just before the election, the political action committee of Palestinian real estate developer Basim Sabri, who had a personal feud with Lilligren, produced controversial fliers smearing Lilligren and asserting that he discriminated against minorities, the elderly, and the poor. The fliers urged voters instead to cast their ballots for Warsame. Warsame's campaign team emailed a statement denouncing the Sabri committee's pamphlets and their use of Warsame's name. It also indicated that Sabri and his action group were unaffiliated with the Vote Warsame For Ward 6 campaign and were instead acting out of their own volition.

On November 5, 2013, Warsame was elected to represent the predominantly East-African Ward 6 on the Minneapolis City Council. He was the first-choice preference of 64% of voters, and received 40% of second-choice votes, and 20% of third-choice votes. The incumbent, Robert Lilligren, received 32% of first-choice votes, almost 27% of second-choice votes, and 13% of third-choice votes. The victory makes Warsame the first Somali American to hold the position. Warsame and Ahmed M. Hassan, who was elected to the Clarkston, Georgia City Council on the same day, are the first Somali Americans to be elected to municipal offices in the United States and the highest elected Somali Americans in the country. Warsame's election set civic precedence in the Somali American community of Minneapolis, in which his campaign energized and mobilized this sub-community's powerful voting bloc.

Political stature and causes

The Star Tribune, Minnesota's largest newspaper, noted Warsame's stature by stating "there is the work of being one of the most prominent Somali-Americans in the country, at a time when the Somali community is making inroads in politics, business and education — but also pushing back against a wave of news about young Somalis trying to link up with terrorist groups overseas. In between council meetings and city business, Warsame’s calendar is filled with visits from East African dignitaries, trips to other Somali communities in the United States and casual conversations with people who need help with problems large and small."

In addition, Warsame has been at the forefront of fighting against violent extremist ideology which dismally effects the Somali-American community. Politico interviewed the Councilmember and it stated that "Abdi Warsame might be the only city council member in the nation who lies awake at night thinking about how to fight ISIL."

Personal life

Warsame is married and has three children who were all born in Minneapolis. He is a resident of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, which is home to the largest concentration of Somalis outside of East Africa.

Electoral history