Raaheela Ahmed (she/her) is a millennial South Asian woman who is the former president of the Prince George’s County Board of Education. Raaheela formerly served as the Student Regent on the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, representing more than 150,000 students across 12 public universities. Raaheela is a badass: she got her motorcycle license while in high school and played rugby for three years during college. Yet she also loves being near bodies of water and aims to visit every US National Park in her lifetime. A democratic socialist, this lover of cheesecake is basing her campaign around strengthening public schools, expanding access to affordable healthcare and housing, and protecting working families.

Where are you based?
Bowie, MD, where I’ve lived all my life.

What position are you running for?
I’m running to represent District 23 in the MD State Senate.

How would you briefly summarize your platform?
I’m a candidate who vows to represent the people of my district, not special interests. My vision is for a government that works for people. I believe in fully funded public schools, economic security for families and seniors, and protecting the civil and human rights of every neighbor. My leadership centers compassion and accountability—making sure every decision reflects the lived realities of the people I serve, advances the common interest, and builds the conditions under which everyone in my district can thrive.

What inspired you to run?
We are in a time of immense peril—for all Americans, but especially women—whose bodily autonomy and civil rights are at risk; people of color and immigrants, who are most vulnerable to criminalization and deportation; poor and working class people, who are facing increasing financial pressure and precarity; and young people, whose futures are being threatened by a scam economy increasingly dominated by gambling, AI, and a shrinking free speech environment.

This is a moment when we need to fight, as hard as we’ve ever fought. But our Democratic leadership has largely failed to meet the moment. My opponent has been a particularly galling case of this. He has been a passive legislator, introducing few substantive bills and prioritizing special interests over policies that improve people's lives.

I'm running for State Senate because my district deserves leadership that fights back. District 23 looks prosperous on the surface, but many families are struggling behind closed doors — coping with lost jobs, medical emergencies, rising costs, and financial insecurity. Others are dealing with increasing precarity as AI threatens even middle class jobs, online gambling undermines economic security, and our federal government slashes and burns our most basic social and civic protections. I’m running because people deserve a senator who recognizes that reality and is willing to fight for them with urgency and conviction.

What change are you hoping to bring to your district and country?
I want to bring more affordable housing, jobs, quality and affordable healthcare, accessible public transportation, quality public schools, and protections against predatory financial practices and investments (including data centers).

What do you consider to be your major accomplishments so far?
I was an elected member of the Prince George’s County School Board for five years, during which I promoted financial literacy for every student, fair pay for teachers and unionized staff, an end to the school-to-prison pipeline, and bold protections for those targeted by Trump’s words and actions–including trans, immigrant, and Muslim students.

What do you feel are the most important issues right now, why, and how do you plan to tackle them?
Education: As a local, elected school board member for five years, I fought diligently to advance the academic achievement of our students. I am committed to pushing these efforts on the state level as well, such as dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, adequately building and renovating schools through public funds, promoting culturally responsive curriculum, furthering financial literacy, supporting free early childhood education opportunities, and advocating for resources and support for our marginalized students and communities. I also believe in fully funding and supporting our Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), especially District 23’s very own Bowie State University.

Democracy: I have worked professionally in the democracy reform and civic engagement space for several years. I was the National Legislative and Organizing Director for 100% Democracy, an organization that is moving the concept of universal voting in cities and states nationwide. Previously, I served as Deputy Director of Campus Vote Project, an organization committed to institutionalizing voting on college campuses across the country. Additionally, as a school board member, I have fought for governmental transparency and accountability in its structure, function, and operation. As such, I am supportive of permanent universal vote-by-mail to provide all residents the greatest possible access to the ballot box; public financing for elected offices to reduce the influence of money in politics; decreasing the barrier of entry for local citizens to run for office; special elections to fill vacancies of elected positions instead of political appointments; and live streaming and recording of all public proceedings of the legislature in Annapolis, including committee meetings and floor votes.

Immigration: I grew up as the daughter of immigrants from Pakistan and India, in a multi-generational Bowie home. My house was home to extended relatives and friends who found their grounding coming to the U.S. as refugees, asylees and immigrants from Asia. I believe that every immigrant deserves a path to citizenship, and that immigrants should be made eligible for social support and services as residents of our community, including but not limited to pandemic relief, employment, education and tenant protections. My empathy for immigrants led me to work for a national nonprofit, where I built and maintained an active network of first- and second-generation immigrant elected officials across the country, and supported their efforts to develop legislation to advance immigrant rights and democracy.

America is extremely divided these days. How would you hope to bridge that divide with your constituents to better unite Americans?
The job of a State Senator is to represent her district—and in terms of constituent service, I will be there for my entire District. I am also a listener, and take the job of engaging constituents on their views and preferences quite seriously. There are many people in my district with whom I disagree fundamentally and can have productive conversations about the state-level policy issues that affect them personally. I care about whether they have affordable housing, a sense of personal safety, quality educational opportunities for their children, adequate transportation options, and a thriving economy that offers a living wage—just as much as they do. This is the foundation for strong, civil, productive conversations that bridge disagreement and find common ground.

But to your larger point, our national polarization is not a civil chess game between two good faith opponents who disagree on technical details. It is a fight between those who are dedicated to a project of white reclamation and tech oligarch supremacy –who wish to undermine democracy, send the status of women and Black people back 100 years, criminalize immigrants, create a permanent economic underclass, force AI down Americans’ throats in every arena of their lives, and enrich a very small few at the expense of the rest of us. There is no “uniting” with bad faith actors.

However, on matters of state policy, I have found that there is often room for finding common ground, and less ideological division, than in national politics. This creates space for the kind of bridge-building that you reference in your question.

How do you see your unique identity and background to be an asset to you in office?
I am the daughter of immigrants, in a family that has experienced economic precarity and all of the social challenges that come with it. I have deep empathy with those who are facing economic hardship, and with the costs to entire families when individuals encounter the criminal justice system, face debt, or struggle to pay bills. I understand the terror and cost of today’s immigration crackdown–it is affecting people near and dear to me. And as a Muslim, my encounters with Islamophobia have sensitized me to racial and ethnic hierarchies and discrimination, and all of the subtle and not-so-subtle ways they shape our lives and our opportunities. This has fundamentally shaped my politics, my interest in deep listening, and my fire for social justice.

What is your motto in life?
My former boss used to say “nothing you do goes wasted.” It’s my motto too, now.

Where can we find out more about you?
Website: www.raaheela.com
Facebook: RaaheelaAhmed
Instagram: Raaheela
X: RaaheelaAhmed
LinkedIn: RaaheelaAhmed

Our Favorite Progressive Candidates in 2026 - Raheela Ahmed, Maryland State Senate District 23