Rashida Tlaib
Rashida Harbi Tlaib (/təˈliːb/ tə-LEEB; born July 24, 1976) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the U.S. representative for Michigan's 12th congressional district. She is the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.
Rashida Tlaib
- 13th district (2019–2023)
- 12th district (2023–present)
12th district (2009–2012)
6th district (2013–2014)
2
Tlaib was born to working-class Palestinian immigrants in Detroit in 1976. She graduated from Southwestern High School in Detroit in 1994, from Wayne State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1998, and from Thomas M. Cooley Law School with a Juris Doctor in 2004. Tlaib was admitted to the bar in the state of Michigan in 2007. She began her political career in 2004 when she interned with State Representative Steve Tobocman, who hired her to his staff when he became majority floor leader in 2007, and encouraged her to run for his seat the next year. She did so, and won the election.
A member of the Democratic Party, Tlaib represented the 6th and 12th districts in the Michigan House of Representatives. She was the first Muslim woman to serve in Michigan's legislature. In 2018, she won the Democratic nomination and the general election for the United States House of Representatives in Michigan's 13th congressional district. Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are the first female members of Democratic Socialists of America to serve in Congress. Tlaib is a member of The Squad, an informal group of U.S. representatives on the left wing of the Democratic Party.
As a U.S. representative, Tlaib has been a vocal critic of both the Trump and Biden administrations. She has argued in favor of abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Tlaib voted to impeach President Donald Trump in both 2019 and 2021. She is sharply critical of Israel, viewing it as an apartheid state. Tlaib has called for an end to U.S. aid to Israel; she supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On November 7, 2023, Tlaib was censured by the House of Representatives in response to her public statements on the 2023 Israel–Hamas War and the overall Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Early life and education
Rashida Harbi was born in Detroit on July 24, 1976, the eldest of 14 children born to working-class Palestinian immigrants. Her mother was born in Beit Ur El Foka, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. Her father was born in Beit Hanina, a neighborhood in East Jerusalem.[1] He moved first to Nicaragua, then to Detroit. He worked on an assembly line in a Ford Motor Company plant. As the eldest, Tlaib played a role in raising her siblings while her parents worked.[2]
Tlaib attended elementary school at Harms, Bennett Elementary, and Phoenix Academy. She graduated from Southwestern High School in Detroit in 1994.[3] Tlaib received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Wayne State University in 1998[4][5] and her Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2004.[6][7] Tlaib was admitted to the bar in the state of Michigan in 2007.[8]
Michigan House of Representatives
Tlaib began her political career in 2004 when she interned with State Representative Steve Tobocman. When Tobocman became Majority Floor Leader in 2007, he hired Tlaib to his staff.[9][10]
In 2008 Tobocman encouraged Tlaib to run for his seat, which he was vacating due to term limits. The urban district is 40% Hispanic, 25% African-American, 30% non-Hispanic white Americans, and 2% Arab American. Tlaib faced a crowded primary that included several Latinos, including former State Representative Belda Garza. She emerged victorious, carrying 44% of the vote in the eight-way Democratic primary and winning the general election with over 90% of the vote.[11]
In 2010, Tlaib faced a primary election challenge from Jim Czachorowski in his first bid for office.[12] Tlaib picked up 85% of the vote to Czachorowski's 15%,[13] and won the general election with 92% of the vote against Republican challenger Darrin Daigle.[14]
In 2012, Tlaib won reelection to the Michigan House in the newly redrawn 6th district.[15] Tlaib faced fellow incumbent Maureen Stapleton[15] in the Democratic primary and defeated her, 52%–45%.[13] She won the general election with 92% of the vote against Republican nominee Darrin Daigle.[16] Tlaib could not run for the Michigan House a fourth time in 2014 because of term limits;[17] instead, she ran for the Michigan Senate, losing to incumbent Senator Virgil Smith Jr. in the 2014 Democratic primary, 50%–42%.[18]
Tlaib is the first Muslim woman to serve as a member of the Michigan State Legislature. She is also the second Muslim woman (after Jamilah Nasheed of Missouri) to serve in a state legislature nationwide.[19]
After leaving the state legislature, Tlaib worked at Sugar Law Center, a Detroit nonprofit that provides free legal representation for workers.[20]
Personal life
In 1998, at the age of 22, Tlaib married Fayez Tlaib. They have two sons, Adam and Yousif. The couple have since divorced. In 2018, a campaign spokesperson referred to Tlaib as a single mother.[118]
In September 2018, The New York Times reported that Tlaib walked into her family's mosque to express her gratitude for the opportunity to run for Congress, articulating a belief that "my Allah is She".[119] The Detroit Free Press reported that, although she recognizes that some in her faith community consider her not "Muslim enough",[1] she believes that Allah understands that she deems her actions "reflective of Islam".[1]