Muhammad Akbar Ali, a 21-year-old recent college graduate, won a runoff election for a state house seat in Atlanta’s suburbs earlier this month, becoming the youngest Georgia state legislator serving today – perhaps the youngest ever.
The key to the young Democrat’s victory and his strategy moving forward? Experience.
“This isn’t my first rodeo,” Ali said, describing how he intends to work across the aisle in a Republican-dominated legislature. “I’ve been around the other side of the aisle and seen how bills are done. It’s all relationship-based. A lot of the Democratic delegation supports me, but some Republicans are also familiar with me. They may not support me, but they know who I am and that they can work with me.”
Ali’s political activism began in elementary school, when municipal lawmakers began erecting zoning roadblocks against the construction of a new mosque in Lilburn, Georgia. At the time, suburban Gwinnett county was about 10 years into revolutionary demographic changes brought on by rapid growth.
“I asked my parents what I could do,” he said. “That spurred into leading pro-choice marches before I could even vote, then getting involved with the Young Democrats of Gwinnett county – which I helped recharter – and then the Gwinnett county Democratic party shortly after.”
His district covers the area around Snellville, Georgia, a rapidly growing Atlanta exurb. About 70% of the district is non-white today, split relatively evenly between Black, Latino and Asian residents.
“Going down Lawrenceville Highway, the main road in the district, you’ll see a Korean Christian church, a Vietnamese place right next to a Halal restaurant, and right next to a taqueria,” Ali said. He started his campaign going to small businesses owned by immigrants. “I went through them with two translators by my side – one Spanish and one Korean – just so I could get my message across.”
Islamophobia was largely limited to being an internet problem for Ali while campaigning. “I think the rampant Islamophobia is just a resurgence of an ugly identity that shouldn’t exist because, regardless of who we are, we are all Americans,” Ali said. “As a born citizen of the United States, I have just as much right to serve my community as anyone else.”
Ali served as a legislative aide for state senator Kim Jackson, a progressive voice in the Democratic delegation, while also serving on local committees tackling policy issues like the Gwinnett county transit advisory board.
Many Democratic lawmakers backed Ali’s candidacy over his opponent in the runoff, in part because they were more familiar with Ali. His coalition included both the Atlanta chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and former governor Roy Barnes, a notable political moderate.
While Ali is a policy wonk with nuanced opinions about state-education funding, he ran on kitchen table issues: Medicaid expansion, clamping down on investor-owned housing, property taxes, school safety and high insurance prices for small businesses.
“Affordability isn’t just a buzzword; it was actual policy for me,” he said. “Prices are too high, and it’s unachievable to buy a house or start on the path of home ownership. There are basic foundational needs not being taken care of.
“We are actively losing participation in younger voters,” due to partisan bickering, he said. “I may be the youngest now, but I won’t stay that way forever. I’m the first of many.”
