Abdi Warsame

Abdi Warsame (born 1978) is a Somali-American politician in Minnesota's Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. After moving to London as an asylum-seeker, he immigrated to Minnesota in 2006. In November 2013, he was elected to the Minneapolis City Council, becoming the first Somali official to be elected to the position. Warsame was reelected for a second term in 2017. He resigned from the position in 2020 to become the head of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.

Early life and education Warsame was born on March 5, 1978, in Mogadishu, Somalia. In the late 1980s, his family sought asylum in London. In 2006, Warsame immigrated to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Warsame chaired the Cedar Riverside-Neighborhood Revitalization Program 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. 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. 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.

Warsame was reelected in 2017 by about 4%, around 240 votes. In early 2020, partway through his term, he was appointed head of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority. He resigned from his City Council seat on March 30 of that year to take the new position, the first Somali person to lead one of Minnesota's public agencies. Jamal Osman was elected in August to fill Warsame's seat.

Personal life Warsame is married and has four children.

Candidate % 1st Choice Round 1

DFL Abdi Warsame

DFL Robert Lilligren

DFL Abdi Addow

DFL Sheikh Abdul

DFL Mahamed A Cali

DFL Abukar Abdi

N/A Write-in