U.S.—Thirty-five-year-old Nigerian-American Esther Agbaje has defeated incumbent lawmaker Raymond Dehn in Tuesday’s Democratic Party primary – Dehn was seeking a fifth term to represent the 59B Minnesota District.
Agbaje, who polled 47% of the votes cast against Dehn’s 42%, will be facing her major contender, Republican candidate Alan Shilepsky come November 2, 2020.
Born to immigrant Nigerian parents, Agbaje, a Harvard-trained lawyer, also holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a master’s in Public Administration.
She is known for her labor rights advocacy and was recognized by Minnesota Lawyer as attorney of the year in 2019.
She was part of a legal aid team praised for defending evicted tenants and pushing for much-needed Hepatitis C medication for prisoners in her District.
Agbaje attributes her energy and work ethic to her priest-father and homeless-care-mother, whose selfless services shaped her own.
“As a child of parents whose mission was to serve others, I have followed in their footsteps throughout my life. In college, I worked to advance labor rights. In graduate school, I helped build healthy and sustainable communities. In the State Department, I managed programs advocating for civil rights,” Agbaje wrote on her website.
Except the state of Nebraska, other American states, including Minnesota, run bicameral legislatures—a Senate and a House of Representatives (at state levels).
The office is tenured for two years and has no reelection limitation.