US Election: Esther Agbaje, Nigerian-American Wins Legislative Seat by an Overwhelming Margin

A Nigerian-American, Esther Agbaje has been elected into the Minnesota House of Representatives to represent District 59B in the United States general election held on November 3, 2020.

Agbaje won by an overwhelming margin, scoring a total of 17,396 votes, which represents 74.7% of the total ballots cast. Her closest rival, Alan Shilepsky, a nominee for the Republican Party, scored 4,126 votes, which represents 17.7% of the total votes cast.

She was born in St. Paul the state capital of Minnesota, to Nigerian immigrant parents, lived in Brainerd, and went to high school in Faribault. Agbaje has a law degree from Harvard University, a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania, and has served in the U.S. Department of State, among others.

After law school, she moved to downtown Minneapolis in 2017 to contribute to the place she calls home.

Agbaje confirmed that she would be representing District 59B in the Minnesota House of Representatives on the platform of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFLP), an affiliate of the U.S. Democratic Party, on her website.

She defeated incumbent Raymond Dehn and Isaiah Whitmore in the Democratic Primary for Minnesota House of Representative District 59B on August 11, 2020.