Four Nigerians with ancestral ties to the country have secured elective positions in the November 3, 2026, United States midterm elections, winning seats across different levels of government.
The successful candidates are Will Jawando, Junior Ezeonu, Oye Owolewa and Carol Kazeem, who emerged victorious in contests spanning Maryland, Texas, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania.
In Maryland, Democrat Will Jawando won the race for Montgomery County executive, defeating Republican candidate Esther Wells.
Jawando previously served on the Montgomery County Council and is the son of a Nigerian father and an American mother.
In Texas, 27-year-old Junior Ezeonu secured a seat in the state House of Representatives for District 101.
Born in Onitsha, Anambra State, Ezeonu moved to the United States at the age of two and previously served on the Grand Prairie City Council, where he became the city’s youngest mayor pro tempore.
Meanwhile, Oye Owolewa won an at-large seat on the District of Columbia Council in Washington, DC.
A pharmacist and son of Nigerian immigrants from Kwara and Osun states, Owolewa previously served as the district’s elected shadow representative, a position associated with the campaign for DC statehood.
In Pennsylvania, Carol Kazeem retained her seat in the state House of Representatives, representing District 159.
She contested under the Democratic Party and was among eight Nigerian-Americans elected to legislative positions during the 2022 midterm elections.
Another Nigerian-born Democrat, Segun Adeyina, was seeking re-election to the Georgia House of Representatives for District 110.
Early results showed him leading Republican challenger Charles Lollar by 1,353 votes to 689, although counting was still ongoing and the contest had yet to be called at the time of reporting.
US midterm elections take place halfway through a president’s four-year tenure and determine the composition of Congress, alongside several state and local government positions.
The November 3 polls featured contests for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats, as well as governorships and other elective offices.
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