Virginia Election 2019: Muslim Woman Makes History

FAIRFAX, VA — A Fairfax woman just declared victory in her race to make history as both the youngest person and first Muslim woman to hold elected office in Virginia.

Abrar Omeish, 24, released a statement shortly before 10 p.m. declaring victory in her race for a seat for Fairfax County School Board At-Large, with early results showing her finishing in second (the top three win seats) against five other candidates. With 98.77 percent of precincts reporting, Omeish had 144,157 votes (unofficial).

She has made both her own youth and her campaign's youth a big part of her identity, and has 13 high school students on her campaign staff working on field operations and policy.

Read more: Virginia House, Senate Election Results 2019: Polls Close

“This campaign represents a local movement to set a new standard of public service -- to provide accessible and inclusive leadership that elevates and empowers all people to participate," Omeish said in the statement. "Education is the starting point for all members of our community to access opportunity to meet their potential and we must fight to ensure that every child can succeed here.”

Omeish has been endorsed by the Fairfax County Democratic Committee. She has lived in Fairfax County her entire life.

She is pursuing one of three seats on the FCPS board that are up for election. According to Ballotpedia, Omeish's top three priorities are: excellence and opportunity for all children, support for holistic education, and fiscal responsibility.

Omeish told Patch in an interview that one of her priorities if she is elected would be to provide more resources to students across Fairfax County by increasing the number of parent liaisons, for example.

She wants to implement universal Pre-K to give kids a head start. And mental health would be a big focus.

"The No. 1 thing I heard from [students] is mental health," she said. "They may have friends who are suicidal, they may be stressed out, they may have negative coping habits. I want to make sure we provide those resources, and we do that by lowering the ratio of students and psychologists."

Omeish described her campaign leading up to Tuesday night as a "thrill" and she says she has tried to include voices that are typically not heard, such as by reaching out to homeless shelters and Latinx organizations. And she praised the work her staff had done.

"We've had specific staff focused on researching issues," she said. "We're seeing what other counties are doing and seeing where we can be trendsetters."

Omeish revealed earlier this year that she was arrested by Fairfax County Police in March during a routine traffic stop. She says police were aggressive with her and humiliated her by ordering her to remove her headscarf at the jail. She reportedly turned right on a red light at an intersection, and pleaded no contest to failing to stop prior to doing so.

She graduated from Yale University, and before that she was educated at Mantua Elementary School, Frost Middle School, and Robinson Secondary School.