Ibraheem S. Samirah (born August 20, 1991) is an American politician. He served as a member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

from the 86th district from 2019 to 2022. He was defeated for re-election in the Democratic primary by Irene Shin in June 2021. Following his 2021 defeat, he has unsuccessfully run in three campaigns.

Early life and education

Samirah was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

on August 20, 1991 to Jordanian-

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

parents. Samirah's grandparents were

. He has described his father as a community activist in the Muslim community. In 2003 when Samirah was 11, his father was denied re-entry into the United States as a potential national security risk. This resulted in the family moving to

Amman, Jordan Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the List of largest cities in the ...

. Samirah's father was readmitted to the United States in 2014. Baby Ibraheem Samirah with parents

In 2013, Samirah graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in government and political science from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

. He co-founded a

Jewish Voice for Peace Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP; ) is an American Jewish anti-Zionist and left-wing advocacy organization. It is critical of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, and supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign ag ...

chapter at the school and was an observant Muslim throughout college. He earned his

Doctor of Dental Medicine A number of professional degrees in dentistry are offered by dental schools in various countries around the world. Degrees Dental degrees may include: Bachelor's degree * Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) * Bachelor's degree of Dentistry (BDS ...

(DMD) from the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in 2017. While he attended dental school, Samirah was a member of

Students for Justice in Palestine Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP; ) is a pro-Palestinian college student activism organization in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. Founded at the University of California, Berkeley in 1993, it has campaigned for the Boycott, Div ...

Career

House of Delegates

After Delegate

Jennifer Boysko Jennifer Barton Boysko (born November 16, 1966) is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia. She represents the 38th district in the Virginia Senate. Previously, she represented the 86th district in the Virginia House of Delega ...

was elected to the

Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Vir ...

, Samirah ran for her vacant seat in the

, winning a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in February 2019. In a town hall after his election, he was asked by a constituent whether he planned to implement

Sharia law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, inta ...

, which Samirah stated was an attack on his faith. There were about two dozen protesters, some with anti-abortion and pro-Israel signs, outside Herndon Town Hall ahead of this meeting. In July 2019, he disrupted a speech by

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

in Jamestown commemorating the 400th anniversary of the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

, yelling "President Trump, you can't send us back, Virginia is our home" with "Deport Hate" written on a sign. He was then escorted away by

Capitol Police Capitol police in the United States are agencies charged with the provision of security police services for various state agencies, but especially state legislatures. Capitol police may function as part of the state police or may be an independe ...

and

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...

officers. He ran for reelection unopposed that November. In December 2019, he introduced legislation to preempt local

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

ordinances to allow for more

multi-family residential Multifamily residential, also known as multidwelling unit (MDU), is a classification of housing where multiple separate housing units for residential inhabitants are contained within one building or several buildings within one complex. Units can ...

, high-density developments on properties currently zoned for

single-family detached home A single-family detached home, also called a single-detached dwelling, single-family residence (SFR) or separate house is a free-standing residential building. It is defined in opposition to a multi-family residential dwelling. Definitions ...

s only. Samirah supported allowing property owners to convert their properties from single-family units to two-family duplexes,

townhouses A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residenc ...

, or

cottages A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

in both established and new neighborhoods without going through the existing local processes for rezoning a residential property. Samirah co-sponsored legislation with the aim to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

, titled the Virginia Green New Deal. He also signed a letter opposing the

Transcontinental Pipeline Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco) is a natural gas pipeline which brings gas from the Gulf coast of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania to deliver ...

. In January 2020, Samirah backed a bill to allow for expanded absentee voting and recognize election day as a state holiday. Samirah also co-sponsored legislation directing the Virginia Department of Social Services to participate in the Restaurant Meals Program of the

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program In the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal government program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income persons to help them maintai ...

. In February 2020, he co-sponsored legislation to make pawpaws the state fruit of Virginia. He sponsored a bill that would ban public service companies from donating money to the state lawmakers. On May 31, 2020, he attended a

George Floyd protest The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as reactions to the ...

in Lafayette Square,

Washington, D.C Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

and was hit with

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...

. Samirah endorsed

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

in the

2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2020 election. The primaries and caucuses took p ...

. In September 2020, he voted against a bill to end

qualified immunity In the United States, qualified immunity is a legal principle of federal law that grants government officials performing discretionary (optional) functions immunity from lawsuits for damages unless the plaintiff shows that the official violated "c ...

, which he blamed on a miscalculation, drawing criticism from Democrat colleagues. He also called for an amendment to the bill to prevent Virginia's insurance

risk pool A risk pool is a form of risk management that is mostly practiced by insurance companies, which come together to form a pool to provide protection to insurance companies against catastrophic risks such as floods or earthquakes. The term is also u ...

from covering the cost of lawsuits filed against police. He drew a challenger in the Democratic primary in 2021 and was defeated by non-profit organizer Irene Shin who went on to win the general election.

Allegations of antisemitism

In 2014, Samirah made a series of anti-Israel posts on his

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

account. One post reshared a letter by musician

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

about civilian deaths during the

2014 Gaza War The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge (, ), and Battle of the Withered Grain (), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since ...

, which stated that funding

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

was like supporting the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

. On another post, Samirah wrote in response to the death of former

prime minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel (, Hebrew abbreviations, Hebrew abbreviation: ; , ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief executive of the Israel, State of Israel. Israel is a parliamentary republic with a President of Isra ...

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...

that “hell is excited to have you.” Samirah issued an apology for these posts in 2019 after a right-leaning website, which also broke news that led to the

2019 Virginia political crisis Over the course of one week in February 2019, all three of Virginia's statewide elected executive officials (all members of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party) became engulfed in scandal, and were consequently the subjects o ...

, publicized the posts. In October 2021, Samirah posted on social media accusing

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

of creating fossil fuel wars.

Later campaigns

2023 State Senate campaign

In 2023, Samirah ran for the

Virginia State Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

in the Democratic primary for Virginia's 32nd State Senate District. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by Del.

Suhas Subramanyam Suhas Subramanyam (born September 26, 1986) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 10th congressional district since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the Virginia Senate fro ...

, who went on to win the general election.

2024 State Senate campaign

In 2024, after Subramanyam's election to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, Samirah ran to replace his seat of

Virginia's 32nd Senate district Virginia's 32nd Senate district is one of 40 districts in the Senate of Virginia. The seat has been represented by Kannan Srinivasan since 2025. Geography District 32 is based in Loudoun County in the suburbs of Washington D.C. The district ove ...

in a firehouse primary held on November 16, 2024, losing to Del.

Kannan Srinivasan Kannan Srinivasan is an American politician from Virginia. In 2023, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates to represent the 26th district. He was elected to the Virginia Senate in a special election on January 7, 2025. Personal lif ...

2024 State House campaign

Following Srinivasan's victory in the Democratic primary special election for

, Samirah ran in a special election to replace his seat for

Virginia's 26th House of Delegates district Virginia's 26th House of Delegates district elects one of 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, the lower house of the state's bicameral legislature. District 26 includes part of Loudoun County in Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, ...

. His residency in the district was questioned during the campaign. JJ Singh won the election with Samirah coming in third.

Electoral history

February 2019 special election

After

was elected to the

, Samirah ran in the special election to complete the remainder of her term in February 2019.

2019 general election

Following his win in the February 2019 special election, Samirah was unopposed for reelection in the November 2019 general election.

2021 general election primary

Samirah filed for reelection in 2021. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by Irene Shin.

2023 general election

Samirah unsuccessfully ran for State Senate in 2023 and was defeated in the primary by

2024 special elections

After

's election to the

, a special election was held for his vacant seat. Following

's victory in the Democratic primary special election for

, a special election was held to replace his vacant seat.

Personal life

Samirah lives in

Sterling, Virginia Sterling refers most specifically to a census-designated place (CDP) in Loudoun County, Virginia. The population of the CDP as of the 2020 United States Census was 30,337 The CDP boundaries are confined to a relatively small area between Virginia ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Samirah, Ibraheem Living people People from Herndon, Virginia Politicians from Chicago American politicians of Palestinian descent American dentists Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Muslims from Virginia American University alumni Boston University alumni 1991 births People from Loudoun County, Virginia 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly