Yassamin Ansari

Yassamin Ansari (born April 7, 1992) is an American climate change activist and politician who is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Arizona's 3rd congressional district since 2025.

Ansari was a member of the Phoenix City Council from 2021 to 2024. At the time of her election, she was the youngest person to be elected to the council and the first Iranian American elected to public office in Arizona.

U.S. House of Representatives
In February 2023, Ansari was seen as a possible candidate to run to represent Arizona's 3rd congressional district in the United States Congress. Two months later in April, she announced her candidacy. She ran as a Democrat. 

Ansari won the Democratic nomination in August 2024, beating former State Senator Raquel Terán by 39 votes. Ansari would go on to win the general election in November 2024, beating Republican Jeff Zink in a landslide. With her victory, she became the first Iranian American Democrat elected to U.S. Congress and the second Iranian American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In November 2024, Ansari was elected the Democratic freshman class president. Ansari chose to boycott Donald Trump's inauguration, choosing instead to attend a Martin Luther King Jr. Day March in Phoenix, in her district.

Personal life
Ansari was born on April 7, 1992. Her parents immigrated to the United States from Iran. In high school, she organized for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. She went to Stanford University. During college, Ansari interned for Nancy Pelosi. 

After finishing college, she began working for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. She worked as a senior policy advisor with Ban, spending a year working on the Paris Agreement, and later worked with Ban's successor, António Guterres. She later studied at St. John's College, Cambridge. 

References

Other websites

Category:1992 births
Category:Living people
Category:Politicians from Phoenix, Arizona
Category:Democratic Party (United States) politicians
Category:American political activists
Category:United States representatives from Arizona