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Samba Baldeh
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 48th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 4, 2021
Preceded by	Melissa Agard
President of the Madison Common Council
In office April 17, 2018 – April 16, 2019
Preceded by	Marsha Rummel
Succeeded by	Shiva Bidar
Member of the Madison Common Council from the 17th district
In office April 21, 2015 – April 6, 2021
Preceded by	Joe Clausius
Succeeded by	Gary Halverson
Personal details
Born	(1971-09-10) September 10, 1971 (age 53) Choya Village, The Gambia
Nationality	United States
Political party	Democratic
Other political affiliations	Progressive Dane
Spouse	Fatou
Residence	Madison, Wisconsin
Alma mater	Madison Area Technical College (AS) University of the Gambia University of Wisconsin, Madison
Occupation	Politician, legislator, IT professional
Website	Official website Campaign website

Samba Baldeh (born September 10, 1971) is an American information technology professional, and Democratic politician. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 48th Assembly district since 2021. He is the first Muslim member of the Wisconsin Legislature. Before his election to the assembly, he served six years on the Madison Common Council, and was president of the Council from 2018 to 2019.

Early life and career

Samba Baldeh was born in The Gambia, in western Africa. He is a member of the Fulani tribe of semi-nomadic livestock herders. His father died when he was about four years old.

There was little formal education in Choya, which had a population of only about fifty people. The children there were taught Arabic, the Quran, and how to pray. Baldeh later described that curiosity led him to walk the six mile route each day to the "western" school, where he learned to read and speak English. His family soon consented to him moving to the capital, Banjul, at age 8 to live with his uncle and continue his education.

He attended college at the University of the Gambia and became involved in protests against the country's dictator, Yahya Jammeh. His activism brought him to Washington, D.C., in 1999 for a Global Meeting of Generations conference. It was there that he met a student coordinator for Madison Area Technical College. After the conference, he became convinced that he should further his education in science and technology. He emigrated to Madison, Wisconsin, in 2000 and earned his U.S. citizenship in 2005. He studied computer science and earned his associate's degree from Madison Area Technical College in 2007. After receiving his degree, Baldeh started a small IT consulting business and was employed as a software engineer at the Madison-based American Family Insurance.

Political career

In 2015, Baldeh announced he would run for a seat on the Madison Common Council, challenging 8-year incumbent Joe Clausius. Baldeh campaigned on shifting the city's focus from downtown development to increasing services and community space in the city's neighborhoods and strengthening the fabric of the community. In the April 2015 election, Baldeh won a narrow 32 vote victory over Clausius. Baldeh was unopposed seeking reelection in 2017.

In April 2018, the common council unanimously elected Baldeh to serve as president for the 2018–2019 term. Baldeh was outspoken after the wave election of 2019 when nearly half of the common council members and the longtime Mayor of Madison, Paul Soglin, were ousted. He pointed out that such a massive change in personnel might be disruptive until the new members got up to speed, and wanted to refocus attention on one of the major campaign issues, the contentious development of the Judge Doyle Square project.

In January 2020, northern Madison's assembly representative, Melissa Sargent, announced she would forego reelection and would instead run for a newly open seat in the Wisconsin State Senate. Baldeh was one of four Democrats who entered the primary to replace her in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Baldeh ultimately prevailed in the primary with nearly 50% of the vote. He faced 19-year-old Republican Samuel Anderson in the general election, and won nearly 80% of the vote in the heavily Democratic district.

Personal life and family

Samba Baldeh was born into the Fulani tribe of semi-nomadic livestock herders. His mother still lives in The Gambia. Aside from his work and political career, Baldeh has been active with the Kanifing-Madison sister city project, the AIDS Network, the Senegambia Association, and the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Madison. He has also been a member of the boards of the Young African Leaders Initiative and the 100 Black Men of Madison.

In 2016, he was a guest of Wisconsin congressman Mark Pocan to President Barack Obama's 2016 State of the Union Address.

He and his wife, Fatou, were married in 2008. They live on Madison's north side.

Electoral history

Madison City Council (2015, 2019)

Wisconsin Assembly (2020, 2022)

Wisconsin Senate (2024)

References

1. "Elected Officials". PROGRESSIVE DANE. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
2. Meyerhofer, Kelly (November 5, 2020). "Madison voters elect 1st Asian-American and 1st Muslim to state Legislature". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
3. ^ "About". Samba for State Assembly. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
4. ^ Becker, Abigail (October 10, 2018). "Rising to the challenge". The Capital Times. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
5. ^ "Election 2015: Madison City Council District 17". Wisconsin State Journal. March 22, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
6. ^ "About Me". Samba Baldeh – Common Council. Archived from the original on April 15, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Wayback Machine.
7. "Samba Baldeh, Madison City Council District 17". The Capital Times. March 28, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
8. "Samba's Platform". Samba Baldeh – Common Council. Archived from the original on April 10, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Wayback Machine.
9. Mosiman, Dean (April 9, 2015). "Blacks gain historic presence on Madison City Council". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
10. ^ Madison Alderperson District 17 – Official Canvass (Report). Office of the Dane County Clerk. April 7, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
11. Madison Alderperson District 17 – Official Canvass (Report). Office of the Dane County Clerk. April 4, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
12. Becker, Abigail (April 18, 2018). "Madison City Council elects Samba Baldeh, Sheri Carter to leadership roles". The Capital Times. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
13. Elbow, Steven (April 4, 2019). "Excitement accompanies historic turnover on Madison City Council". The Capital Times. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
14. Reilly, Briana (March 2, 2020). "Several Madison Democrats jockeying to succeed Rep. Melissa Sargent in state Assembly". The Capital Times. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
15. Becker, Abigail (March 11, 2020). "Madison Ald. Samba Baldeh announces run for state Assembly". The Capital Times. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
16. Becker, Abigail (April 11, 2020). "Madison Ald. Samba Baldeh wins four-way primary in Assembly District 48". The Capital Times. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
17. ^ Canvass Results for 2020 Partisan Primary – 8/11/2020 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. August 26, 2020. p. 31. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
18. Reilly, Briana (September 28, 2020). "48th Assembly election: Baldeh, Anderson differ on state's COVID-19 response". The Capital Times. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
19. ^ Canvass Results for 2020 General Election – 11/3/2020 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 18, 2020. p. 10. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
20. "Samba Baldeh". Samba Baldeh – Common Council. Archived from the original on April 15, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Wayback Machine.
21. Madison Alderperson District 17 – Official Canvass (Report). Office of the Dane County Clerk. April 2, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
22. County by County Report - 2024 Partisan Primary (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. August 26, 2024. p. 8. Retrieved November 4, 2024.

External links

• Profile at Vote Smart
• Samba Baldeh at Ballotpedia
• 2020 Campaign website
• 2015 Campaign website (Archived – April 15, 2015)
• 48th Assembly District map (2011–2021)

• Living people
• 1971 births
• Wisconsin city council members
• Madison Area Technical College alumni
• African-American state legislators in Wisconsin
• African-American Muslims
• Gambian emigrants to the United States
• Gambian Muslims
• 21st-century African-American politicians
• 20th-century African-American politicians
• Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly
• Muslims from Wisconsin
• 21st-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature