Four Nigerian Americans have secured victories in the November 3, 2026, United States midterm elections, winning political positions in Maryland, Texas, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania.
Another Nigerian-born politician, Georgia State Representative Segun Adeyina, was also leading in his re-election contest, although the race had not been officially called as vote counting continued.
In Maryland, Democrat Will Jawando defeated Republican Esther Wells in the contest for Montgomery County executive.
Results reported by NBC Washington on Wednesday showed Jawando securing 237,383 votes, representing 78.15 per cent, against Wells’s 66,383 votes, or 21.85 per cent. At the time of the update, 72 per cent of the expected votes had been counted.
Jawando, whose father is Nigerian and mother is American, previously served as a member of the Montgomery County Council before contesting for the executive position.
In Texas, 27-year-old Democrat Junior Ezeonu emerged victorious in the race for District 101 in the state House of Representatives.
Ezeonu secured the seat after defeating incumbent Chris Turner in the Democratic primary. He subsequently faced no opposition in the general election because no Republican candidate entered the race.
Born in Onitsha, Anambra State, Ezeonu relocated to Texas when he was two years old. He entered local politics in 2021 after winning a seat on the Grand Prairie City Council and later became the youngest mayor pro tempore in the city’s history.
Meanwhile, Democrat Oye Owolewa won an at-large position on the Washington, DC, Council.
According to local news platform The 51st, Owolewa received 69 per cent of the votes, defeating independent candidate Elissa Silverman, who polled 21 per cent.
Owolewa is a pharmacist whose parents migrated to the United States from Kwara and Osun states in Nigeria. Before his latest victory, he served as an elected shadow representative for Washington, DC, where he advocated for the district’s statehood and voting representation in Congress.
In Pennsylvania, Democrat Carol Kazeem successfully retained her District 159 seat in the state House of Representatives.
Kazeem defeated Republican challenger Michael Bannon to secure another term in office, according to results published by MultiState Elections.
She was among eight Nigerian Americans who won legislative seats during the 2022 US midterm elections.
In Georgia, attention was also focused on Nigerian-born Democrat Segun Adeyina, who was seeking another term in the state House of Representatives.
Adeyina contested against Republican Charles Lollar in District 110. However, the race remained uncalled at the time of reporting.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s election tracker showed Adeyina leading with 1,353 votes against Lollar’s 689, with only eight per cent of the estimated votes counted.
Adeyina first won election to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2022 and represents parts of Gwinnett County.
His official legislative profile identifies him as the executive director of the Nigerian American Public Advisory Committee, an organisation involved in voter education and registration initiatives among immigrant communities.
The 2026 US midterm elections were held halfway through President Donald Trump’s four-year tenure and are regarded as an important measure of his administration’s popularity and political influence.
The elections featured contests for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats, alongside governorships and several state and local government positions.
The results will determine the balance of power in Congress and influence the legislative direction of the United States for the remainder of Trump’s presidential term.
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