Nathan W. Biah Sr. (born December 14, 1971) is an American politician and educator who serves in the

Rhode Island House of Representatives The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is ...

for the 3rd district.

Early life and education

Born and raised in

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

, the capital of

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

, Biah was his parents' only child. Biah was sent to a preparatory school considered one of the "most prestigious" in Liberia, but his education was interrupted by the

First Liberian Civil War The First Liberian Civil War was the first of Second Liberian Civil War, two civil wars within the West African nation of Liberia which lasted between 1989 and 1997. President Samuel Doe's regime of totalitarianism and widespread Political cor ...

, which caused Biah to emigrate to the United States. In 1999, he earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from

Rhode Island College Rhode Island College (RIC) is a public college in Rhode Island, United States, with much of the land in Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, and other parts in North Providence, Rhode Island, North Providence. The college was established in 18 ...

, and in 2007, Biah received a master's degree in education from

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

.https://ballotpedia.org/Nathan_Biah Ballotpedia, retrieved July 25, 2023

Political career

Biah announced a primary challenge to incumbent representative Moira Walsh in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. Walsh, a staunch progressive, had been an opponent of Speaker of the Rhode Island House

Nicholas Mattiello Nicholas A. Mattiello (born 1963) is an American politician and Democratic former member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, who represented the 15th District from 2007 to 2021. He served as the Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Rep ...

, who thus supported Biah. Biah was also endorsed by Rhode Island Right to Life, an

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

organization. In contrast to most other successful primaries in the 2020 Rhode Island House elections, where progressives had ousted allies of Mattiello, Biah defeated Walsh 64–35, and was unopposed in the general election. He currently serves on the Innovation, Internet, and Technology Committee, the Finance Committee, which produces the state budget and the Education Committee.https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03/27/metro/ri-representative-nathan-biah-running-congress/ Boston Globe, by Edward Fitzpatrick, March 27, 2023, retrieved July 25, 2023 He had originally declared his candidacy for US Representative of

Rhode Island's 1st congressional district Rhode Island's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It includes all of Bristol County, Rhode Island, Bristol and Newport County, Rhode Island, Newport counties, along with parts of Providence ...

in March 2023, but has since withdrawn as a candidate and will not appear on the ballot for the special Democratic primary for U.S. representative of the 1st congressional district to be held on September 5, 2023.

References

American politicians of Liberian descent Democratic Party members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives Living people 1971 births Rhode Island College alumni Liberian emigrants to the United States Politicians from Monrovia African-American state legislators in Rhode Island 21st-century members of the Rhode Island General Assembly 21st-century African-American politicians {{RhodeIsland-politician-stub