Saddam Azlan Salim (born January 1, 1990) is a Bengali-American Democratic politician from Virginia. He was elected to the

Virginia 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

2023 Virginia Senate election # The 2023 Senate of Virginia, Virginia Senate election was held on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, concurrently with 2023 Virginia House of Delegates election, elections for the Virginia House of Delegates, to elect senators to all 40 seats in the ...

from the 37th district. He is a first-generation immigrant from

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. Prior to running for office, Saddam served as the South Asians for America State Co-Director for Virginia with Delegate Kannan Srinivasan.

Early life and education

Saddam was born in

Noakhali Noakhali District (), historically known as Bhulua (), is a Districts of Bangladesh, district in southeastern Bangladesh, located in Chattogram Division. It was established as a district in 1821, and officially named Noakhali in 1868. The distr ...

and attended Falls Church High School where he was a track and field athlete and president of his class. During his senior year of high school, his mother's health issues required surgery, and given the financial difficulties his family faced he gave up college out of state instead to attend

Northern Virginia Community College Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC and, informally, NOVA) is a public community college with six campuses and four centers in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. It is the third-largest multi-campus community college in t ...

and

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

. While in college, he also went back to serve as assistant coach for track & field at his high school. He graduated from George Mason University in 2012 with Bachelor of Science in Public Administration and a Master’s in Public Administration in 2015.

Virginia State Senate

2023 primary

Salim announced his candidacy in 2023 against incumbent Democrat Chap Petersen, who represented the 34th District which had been redistricted to the 37th, since 2011. Petersen faced several controversies, including his support of Confederate statues, defense of the team name of the Washington Redskins, and breaking with party ranks to defeat an assault weapons ban. In 2020, Petersen had also faced criticism for his statements on ''The John Fredericks Show'' when discussing

Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were U.S. state, state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, "Jim Crow (character), Ji ...

, when he said "Look, there were some bad decisions made, but at least they had a school system, ok, at least they had a functioning school system". On June 21, Salim pulled an upset, defeating Petersen 54%-45%.

2023 general election

On November 7, Salim defeated Ken Reid in a 68%-30% victory. He has been considered by the media as a potential candidate to succeed

Gerry Connolly Gerald Edward Connolly (March 30, 1950 – May 21, 2025) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 11th congressional district from 2009 until his death in 2025. A Democrat, he was first elected in 2008 ...

2026 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 – Bulgaria is expected to adopt the euro and become the 21st member state of the eurozone. * January 6 – The 2025 Jubilee will end on this day. * February 5 – The New START Treat ...

Electoral history

References

External links

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salim, Saddam Azlan 1990 births 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly Asian American and Pacific Islander state legislators in Virginia Bangladeshi emigrants to the United States Democratic Party Virginia state senators Living people