Samba Baldeh won the race for the Wisconsin State Assembly on Nov. 3, making him the first Gambian-American lawmaker.

Mr. Baldeh was declared the winner with 80 percent of the vote with 97 percent of precincts reporting. Baldeh will be the first Muslim elected to the Wisconsin State Legislature and the first black man from Dane County. 

“I look forward to working with the governor and all of my colleagues on the urgent issues that must be addressed; a raging pandemic, massive unemployment particularly in the service sector and the upcoming winter and flu season,” Baldeh tells Madison365.

“These really are issues of life and death and should be the focus of our attention before everything else.”

Baldeh, an IT project engineer, is currently in his third term on the Madison Common Council representing Madison’s 17th District. He takes over from Rep. Melissa Sargent who had represented the 48th Assembly District since 2013.