Yassamin Ansari

Yassamin Ansari ( , born April 7, 1992)

At the time of her election to the Phoenix City Council, Ansari was the youngest person to be elected to the council and the first Iranian American elected to public office in Arizona. In 2024, she was elected to the House to succeed Ruben Gallego, who was elected in the 2024 Senate election. Ansari is also the youngest female member of Congress.

Early life and education Ansari was born in Seattle, Washington, to parents who immigrated to the United States after fleeing Iran following the Islamic Revolution. Ansari grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona and attended Chaparral High School. In high school, she organized with the Arizona Democratic Party in support of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and worked with her mother to tutor Somali refugees.

Early career After graduation, she was selected for The John Gardner Fellowship Program and started working in the office of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. She continued to be involved in promoting climate action, helping plan the Climate Action 2016 Summit, the Global Climate Action Summit, and the first U.N. Youth Climate Summit. The top two of the five contenders in the general election, Ansari and Cinthia Estela, continued to a runoff election that took place on March 9, 2021.

While in office, she created an Office of Heat Response and Mitigation. It has sought to plant trees, reduce pavement heat absorption, educate residents, and distribute resources including water. She helped develop a plan to promote use of electric vehicles, and advocated for the city to purchase hydrogen fuel cell and battery electric public buses. She attended the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference with Phoenix mayor Kate Gallego, as well as the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Along with other Phoenix City Council members, Ansari was criticized in 2022 for using a suite at Footprint Center, a sports venue owned by the city, to watch games and concerts; following the criticism, the council voted to review its economic development efforts and consider leasing out the suite.

Ansari resigned her City Council seat on March 28, 2024, to focus on her congressional campaign. Former Hayden Mayor Carlos Galindo-Elvira was appointed to fill the remainder of her term.

U.S. House of Representatives Elections 2024

Ansari had been considered a potential 2024 contender for Arizona's 3rd congressional district. She announced her candidacy for the seat on April 4, 2023, and led early fundraising in the race. In September 2023, Axios reported that Ansari and Raquel Terán would likely dominate the race. Ansari raised over $325,000 in the first quarter of 2024, bringing her total raised to more than $1.35 million. In August 2024, Ansari won the primary by 39 votes, and won the general election in the deep-blue district, winning nearly 71% of the vote.

Tenure In November 2024, Ansari was elected the Democratic freshman class president. Ansari chose to boycott Donald Trump's inauguration, choosing instead to attend a Martin Luther King Jr. Day March in Phoenix, in her district. In April 2025, she joined a group of Democratic colleagues in the House in traveling to El Salvador to investigate the condition of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Ansari appointed Sarah Ghermay to serve as her chief of staff.

Committee assignments Source: Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources (Ranking Member) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology, and Government Innovation Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs

Caucus memberships Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Congressional Progressive Caucus Congressional Labor Caucus Congressional Freethought Caucus

Political positions Ansari is a progressive Democrat.

Ansari has advocated for climate action and sustainability efforts.

Ansari supports labor unions and LGBTQ rights.

In 2022, Ansari supported expanding temporary and affordable housing options to help address homelessness in Phoenix.

Following the killing of Alex Pretti in January 2026, Ansari called for abolishing ICE.

Foreign policy Ansari was endorsed by the pro-Israel lobby group Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), and supported continued U.S. military aid to Israel "without additional conditions" along with the expansion of the Abraham Accords during her 2024 election campaign. In November 2024, Ansari criticized a proposal by Senator Bernie Sanders that would block $20 billion in arm sales to Israel amid the Gaza war, saying, "this resolution will attempt to deprive Israel of the materials needed for deterrence and defense while also accomplishing nothing to improve the situation in Gaza."

In January 2025, Ansari was among a minority of House Democrats who voted for legislation rebuking and sanctioning the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its officials over arrest warrants issued against Israeli leaders. Ansari said that the ICC's actions were inappropriate and "as a liberal democracy with an independent judiciary, Israel has the responsibility of investigating allegations of wrongdoing".

In June 2025, Ansari expressed support for the now-defunct Iran nuclear deal and opposed U.S. military intervention in Iran. She condemned the 2026 Iran war, calling for an immediate end to the conflict in April 2026. In 2026, Ansari signed onto the Block the Bombs Act which intends to block the transfer and sale of offensive weaponry to Israel.

Personal life Ansari is agnostic.

According to financial disclosures, Ansari's father lent her between $250,000 and $500,000 for a condo payment. Ansari's financial disclosures from October 2023 showed that she owns two properties in downtown Phoenix and made between $15,000 and $50,000 in 2023 by renting one. Ansari also estimated in the disclosure that her assets were worth between $2.5 million and $8.3 million.

Awards and honors In 2019, Ansari was selected for the Grist 50, an annual list of people taking environmental action. In 2020, Ansari was selected for the Forbes 30 Under 30: Policy and Law list.

Electoral history

Phoenix City Council elections

2020 general election

2021 runoff election

2024 U.S. House election

Democratic primary

General election