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Farhio Khalif lost her run for the Minnesota Senate to Republican incumbent Warren Limmer.
Farhio, a nonprofit advocate, received 45 percent of the vote in her bid to represent Minnesota Senate District 37, which includes Maple Grove, Medina, Corcoran, Greenfield, Hamel, Independence, Loretto, and Maple Plain. Limmer received 55 percent of the vote.
Farhio was one five candidates vying Tuesday to become the first Black women elected to the state Senate in 164 years of statehood.
Farhio founded Voices of East African Women, the first shelter in the United States dedicated to East African and Muslim women who experience homelessness or domestic and sexual assault. She was also a 2020 Bush Fellow.
Limmer is completing his ninth term in the state Senate. He also served four terms in the state House.
At an October election event hosted by the political leadership organization Ayada Leads, Farhio encouraged young women of color in the audience to run for office, regardless of their chances of winning.
“We should also step up to run in districts where diversity is growing and that doesn’t have a voice,” Farhio said at the event. “What we all can do is just step up, one step at a time.”
