Nigerian-Americans did not just vote in the 2026 US midterms. They won, across state houses, a county executive race, and the Washington DC Council, from Georgia to Connecticut. And they won in a year when the whole country moved.
The 2026 midterms were a blue wave. On 3 November, Democrats retook both chambers of Congress, flipping seven Republican-held Senate seats and losing none, and passing 218 seats in the House in the early hours of 4 November, with counting still going on. Governorships flipped in Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Texas. It was the kind of night where a first-time candidate could ride the wave, and where an incumbent in a safe seat could breathe a little easier. You can read the full story of that night, the surprises and what it actually means, here: https://lists.ng/us-midterms-2026-what-happened-the-surprises-and-what-it-actually-means/
What is striking about the Nigerian winners is how they fit inside that wave, and how they do not quite follow the usual script. All 12 are Democrats, and none of them flipped a seat from one party to another. Every single one is a Democratic hold. That is not a disappointment. It is a different kind of story: Nigerians are not just showing up as surprise challengers in swing seats. They are now the incumbents, the successors, and the people holding seats their communities already trust them with.
Here they are, with what actually happened in each race.
1. Segun Adeyina — Georgia State House, District 110, Democrat, incumbent re-elected
Adeyina won a third term with 75.6 percent of the vote, beating Charles Lollar. He was born and raised in Nigeria, and this was a hold, not a flip.
2. Gabe Okoye — Georgia State House, District 102, Democrat, incumbent re-elected
Okoye ran unopposed. He is a native of Enugwu-Agidi who moved to the United States in 1981.
3. Solomon Adesanya — Georgia State House, District 43, Democrat, incumbent re-elected
Adesanya ran uncontested. He was born in Lagos, to a Nigerian father. His first win, back in 2022, was in a historically Republican district, but 2026 was a hold.
4. Phil Olaleye — Georgia State House, District 59, Democrat, incumbent re-elected
Olaleye won a third term comfortably. He is the son of Nigerian and Colombian immigrants.
5. Will Jawando — Montgomery County Executive, Maryland, Democrat, open seat
Jawando won with about 77.9 percent of the vote, succeeding a term-limited incumbent. He is the son of a Nigerian father, and this was a Democratic hold in one of the most diverse counties in America.
6. Janelle Anyanonu — New Mexico State House, District 19, Democrat, incumbent re-elected
Anyanonu was the sole candidate and took 100 percent of the vote, for a third term. She is the daughter of a Nigerian immigrant.
7. Ukeme Awakessien Jeter — Ohio State House, District 7, Democrat, open seat
Awakessien Jeter won with 70 percent of the vote, succeeding a Democrat who left to run for secretary of state. She moved from Nigeria at 18, and this was a hold.
8. Carol Kazeem — Pennsylvania State House, District 159, Democrat, incumbent re-elected
Kazeem beat her opponent to win the seat again. She is Nigerian-American, born in Chester, Pennsylvania.
9. Junior Ezeonu — Texas State House, District 101, Democrat, challenger who beat an incumbent
This is the one race with real drama in it. Ezeonu defeated the incumbent, Chris Turner, in the Democratic primary, then ran unopposed in the general election. Because Turner was also a Democrat, the seat stayed Democratic. It was a changing of the guard, not a party flip. Ezeonu was born in Onitsha and moved to the United States aged two.
10. Odus Evbagharu — Texas State House, District 135, Democrat, open seat
Evbagharu won with 68 percent of the vote, succeeding a Democrat who left to run for Railroad Commissioner. He is the son of Nigerian immigrants, and this was a hold.
11. Olaleye Onikuyide — Connecticut State House, District 19, Democrat, open seat
Onikuyide was declared the winner, succeeding a retiring Democrat. He was born in Hartford to Nigerian immigrant parents.
12. Dr. Oye Owolewa — Washington DC Council, At-Large, Democrat, open seat
Owolewa won with about 69 percent of the vote, succeeding a retiring Democrat. His parents are from Kwara and Osun states. He was previously DC’s shadow representative, not a Council incumbent, so this was a step up, not a re-election.
So that is the shape of it: six incumbents re-elected, five open-seat wins, and one challenger who beat an incumbent from his own party. All Democrats, all holds, all in a blue-wave year.
What is clear is that the winners are no longer a handful of firsts. They are a bench: state legislators in Georgia, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and beyond, a county executive in Maryland, and a council member in the nation’s capital.
Still to be confirmed, not counted as winners yet: KC Ohaebosim in Kansas (leading, race uncalled), Justice Juliet Macaulay in California (ahead on the early retention count), Nnamdi Chukwuocha in Delaware and Esther Agbaje in Minnesota (2026 results not yet located), and Paul Akinjo in California (result not yet found). If any of those are confirmed, the list grows.
For now, these 12 are the verified winners. And if you are Nigerian, or Nigerian-American, or just watching from home, that is something to be proud of.
