Oye Owolewa, a Nigerian-American Democrat has been re-elected as the shadow Representative for the District of Columbia, DC.

Owolewa made history in November 2020 when he became the first Nigerian-American elected to Congress.

He polled 164,026 votes or 82.84 percent of the votes cast in the just-concluded election.

Per the reports, his role will be to advocate for the district's interest particularly its bid for statehood despite not officially being recognized by the
US government as a full member of Congress.

“Thank you DC again for giving me a chance to serve. I also want to thank the organizations that have supported, partnered with and endorsed me,” he wrote in a post on X as he expressed gratitude to DC voters.

Shadow Representatives do not have voting power in the US House of Representatives.

They play a key role in pushing for recognition and state-level advocacy for residents of District of Columbia, DC, who are otherwise disenfranchised at the federal level.

Owolewa has consistently championed the cause of DC statehood, which has become a central focus of his work.