Two Somali women, Safiya Khalid and Nadia Mohamed, win two seats in Lewiston City Council in Maine and Park City in St. Louis. Safia and Nadia thus become the first two Muslim women on the municipal council of these two cities in United States. pic.twitter.com/0ch0fCzmKP

— Almamy Kalumanzillaa™※ (@AlmamyMoha) November 6, 2019

And Safiya Khalid faced death threats:

With just a week to go before the election, Safiya Khalid was in tears. She had spent the past six months knocking on hundreds of doors in Lewiston, Maine, the city where she arrived as a refugee more than a decade earlier, and where she hoped to be the first Somali immigrant to win a seat on the city council. Suddenly, online trolls from as far away as Alabama and Mississippi were hurling vile abuse at her, telling her that Muslims had no place in American government and she should go back to where she came from.

She defeated Walter Hill 642-280 in what became a contentious race late in the campaign.

During a celebration at the Agora Grand Event Center after results came in, Khalid said her campaign is proof that “community organizers beat internet trolls.”

Late Tuesday night, Khalid said she had a gut feeling that Lewiston voters wanted change.

“It’s unbelievable,” she said. “My campaign was about pushing Lewiston to go forward, and to have an inclusive and diverse government.”

h/t balloon-juice.com