Salam "Sam" Rasoul (born June 30, 1981) is an American politician serving 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 38th district. He is one of the two

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

members 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, ...

. In November 2020, Rasoul announced his candidacy for

Lieutenant Governor of Virginia The lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The lieutenant governor is elected every four years along with the governor and attorney general. The office is currently held ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. Despite a significant fundraising advantage, Rasoul placed 2nd in the Democratic primary losing to

Hala Ayala Hala Sophia Ayala (born April 23, 1973) is an American politician who served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates for the 51st district from 2018 to 2022. She was the Democratic nominee in the 2021 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial ...

by 64,352 votes. Rasoul is facing Maynard Keller Jr in his campaign for re-election.

Early life and education

Rasoul was born in

Warren, Ohio Warren is a city in Trumbull County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 39,201 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Mahoning River, Warren lies approximately northwest of Youngstown, Ohio, Y ...

in 1981, the son of

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 ...

immigrants. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from

Roanoke College Roanoke College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers ...

and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

from

Hawaii Pacific University Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) is a private university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. Oceanic Institute of HPU, an aquaculture research facility, is located at Makapuu Point. HPU is also present on military installations on the island of ...

Career

Rasoul first ran for elected office in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

when he challenged incumbent Republican

Bob Goodlatte Robert William Goodlatte (; born September 22, 1952) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist who served in the United States House of Representatives representing from 1993 to 2019. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he was ...

for Virginia's 6th Congressional seat. He lost to Goodlatte by 25 percentage points in the heavily Republican district. Rasoul was elected to the

in 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 ...

held on January 7, 2014. The special election was held to fill the vacancy created by the November 2013 resignation of Delegate

Onzlee Ware Onzlee Ware (January 4, 1954 – February 10, 2024) was an American politician and judge. A Democrat, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly ...

. After winning the Democratic primary by 44 votes, Rasoul received nearly 70% of the vote over his Republican opponent Octavia Johnson in the general election. He was inducted into office on January 8, 2014. Rasoul is a member of the Legislative Black Caucus and Rural Caucus in the House of Delegates. He was a candidate in the

2021 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election The 2021 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2021, to elect the next lieutenant governor of Virginia. Incumbent Democratic Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax was eligible to run for a second term, but instead uns ...

. Rasoul lost to

. If nominated, he would've been the first Muslim candidate to run statewide anywhere in the South and the first Virginia statewide nominee from Roanoke since Ray Garland, who ran for

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

in 1971.

Personal life

Rasoul and his wife, Layaly, have three children.

Electoral history

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rasoul, Sam 1981 births 21st-century American businesspeople Muslims from Virginia American politicians of Palestinian descent Businesspeople from Virginia Candidates in the 2008 United States elections Candidates in the 2021 United States elections Hawaii Pacific University alumni Living people Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Politicians from Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke College alumni 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly