Aber Kawas, a Palestinian-origin Muslim woman, has won New York State Senate District 12 in the US elections. With her win in the Queens seat she is set to enter the state legislature as its first Palestinian Muslim woman. Her victory is seen as a historic moment for the representation of Palestinian and Muslim women in US politics.
The Democratic candidate’s campaign was backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Standing for the first time, she won the Democratic nomination and then the general election, opening her way to the state Senate. Early results showed her ahead by a wide margin, though the full official count is still awaited.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Aber Kawas is the daughter of Palestinian refugees. Her family faced the harsh side of US immigration policy when she was a child. By her account, US immigration authorities detained her father when she was young and later deported him. The family’s financial hardship after his detention and deportation deeply affected her life, and she has cited this experience as her inspiration for working on immigrants’ rights.
Kawas earned a bachelor’s degree in international studies from the City College of New York. She has worked as a community organiser for more than 15 years, especially on the rights of Arab and Muslim communities, immigrants and working people.
She has also served as lead advocacy organiser at the Arab American Association of New York. She currently works as associate director of partnerships at the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability initiative at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law.
Before entering politics, Kawas took part in the Fight for $15 campaign to raise the minimum wage, in campaigns for immigration reform, and against police surveillance and harassment. She is also active in the Palestinian rights movement in New York. With Zohran Mamdani, then an Assembly member, she helped build the “Not On Our Dime” campaign, which aimed to stop New York-based non-profits from funding Israeli settler activity.
Her main campaign promises included affordable housing, protection of tenants’ rights, greater legal and social security for immigrants and better living standards for working people. She also campaigned for universal healthcare, better public transport, affordable child care and higher taxes on the rich to fund public services.
Kawas also spoke out during the campaign on Palestinian rights and the situation in Gaza, and called for US taxpayers’ money not to be spent on Israel’s military operations. Alongside housing costs and the cost-of-living crisis, the crackdown on immigrants and US policy towards Palestinians became important issues in her campaign.
New York State Senate District 12 covers parts of Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside, Ridgewood, Maspeth, Long Island City, Elmhurst, Glendale and Jackson Heights in Queens. Kawas will represent these areas, home to many immigrants and working people. Her supporters believe her election will carry her long community organising work into the legislature.
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