Deqa Dhalac
Member of the Maine House of Representatives
from the 120th district
Assumed office
December 7, 2022
Preceded byRichard Evans
Mayor of South Portland, Maine
In office
December 7, 2021 – December 7, 2022
Preceded byMisha Pride
Succeeded byKate Lewis (designate)
Personal details
Born
Deqa Dhalac

1968 (age 55–56)
Mogadishu, Somalia
Political partyDemocratic
Children3
Alma materUniversity of New Hampshire
University of New England

Deqa Dhalac (born c. 1968 or 1969)[1] is a member of the Maine House of Representatives for the 120th District.[2] A Somali emigrant, she served as the mayor of South Portland, Maine from 2021 to 2022, becoming the first African-born female mayor in the United States.[3] Alongside Mana Abdi, she is the first Somali-American to serve as a Maine legislator.[4]

Early life

Dhalac was born in the capital city of Mogadishu, the middle child with two brothers. Her father, a petroleum engineer, was very politically outspoken. Dhalac described her father as a feminist because he believed in the importance of girls' education and their important role in the family unit. He died in 1989. She learned English as a child as part of her education.[1]

Time period as a refugee

Due to the precipitating events leading to the Somali Civil War, Dhalac fled in 1990, to Rome on a flight intended to head to Libya. Because there were no more embassy services available on the precipice of war, she planned to apply for asylum. Unfortunately, 17 other people had the same idea, so they were held at the airport for over a month. She was released to the care of her cousin who lived in Italy. Dhalac then moved to England, and to Toronto in 1991.[1]

Life in America

In 1992, she married Abdi Farah, a Somali businessman from Atlanta, whose family had been close with her own, and began activism to get immigrants to become citizens and register to vote. She worked as a cashier in a parking garage. With her accounting degree, she received an accounts receivable job in a hotel a few months later. Because she had known English as a second language, it was easier for her to excel in her career in the United States.

In 2005, she moved to Lewiston, Maine, with her family but without her husband, who stayed to take care of his business in Atlanta but visits them frequently. She has lived in South Portland, Maine since 2008, where she raised her three children.[5]

Dhalac became an interpreter for Catholic Charities Maine before opening her own interpreting service, and earned two masters' degrees in policy and social work from the University of New Hampshire and the University of New England.[1]

Political career

In 2018, Dhalac became the first African-American and the first Muslim elected to the South Portland city council.[6] She then ran unopposed in 2020.[6]

Dhalac made national headlines as the first Somali-American mayor in the United States when she was elected unanimously as the mayor of South Portland.[6]

In 2022, after State Representative Victoria Morales withdrew from the race for Maine's 120th State House District, Dhalac was nominated to take her place on the ballot.[7] She won election to the Maine House of Representatives on November 8, 2022.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bouchard, Kelly. "South Portland selects the first Somali-American mayor in U.S." Press Herald.
  2. ↑ "Mana Abdi on historic election: 'The want to make our community better is within reach for all of us'". Maine Beacon. 2022-11-16. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  3. ↑ Sahar Fatima (December 7, 2021). "A Somali-American woman is now mayor of South Portland, Maine, a first for the country". Boston Globe.
  4. ↑ "Mana Abdi on historic election: 'The want to make our community better is within reach for all of us'". Maine Beacon. 2022-11-16. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  5. ↑ "Representative Deqa Dhalac". legislature.maine.gov. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 Shoichet, Catherine E. "A Maine city that's 90% White now has a Somali mayor". CNN. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  7. ↑ "The US' first Somali-American mayor, Deqa Dhalac, is making a bid for the Maine State House". Maine Public. 2022-07-15. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  8. ↑ "Maine swears in its most diverse legislature yet, including its first Black Speaker". TPR. 2022-12-10. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
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