Ghaziabad To Illinois: India-Born Saba Haider Scripts History In US Midterms

Indian-origin Saba Haider has created history by winning the Illinois State Representative election, becoming the first South Asian woman to be elected to the state's General Assembly.

Speaking to NDTV, Haider shed light on her unusual journey from Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad to being elected to the Illinois General Assembly.

“It feels great. It's a moment of pride for me, my family, my country. And I'm just…..I feel very honoured and privileged to be able to represent the residents of District 84 in the Illinois General Assembly,” Haider, who went to Aligarh Muslim University to study wildlife, told NDTV.

Watch #IndiaMatters with @ShivAroor | Saba Haider's American Dream: From Ghaziabad To Illinois State House https://t.co/fxjaxpVymJ

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Haider moved to the US around 20 years ago. Before entering politics, she built a life there and taught yoga. The 40-year-old Indian-American Democrat has now scored a landmark win in the US elections for the DuPage County Board. She defeated Republican rival and incumbent Patty Gustin by 8,521 votes. Haider had lost the same seat in 2022 by a narrow margin of just 1,000 votes.

DuPage County Board is Illinois' second-largest county and governs nearly a million residents.

When asked about how she celebrated her victory, she recalled: “I called my mom in Ghaziabad first and told her that we won. And she kept calling me every hour during the day asking me for results. I'm like, Mom, results don't come in before 8 o'clock in the night. So I don't have a magic ball. I don't have predictions for you. I don't know what to say. So she's been up….”

Haider's family originally belongs to Aurangabad in UP's Bulandshahr. Her father moved to Ghaziabad for work, taking his family alongside. A bright student, Saba Haider topped her BSc class at Ram Chameli Chadha Vishwas Girls' College. She later pursued an MSc in Wildlife Sciences from Aligarh Muslim University, where she won a gold medal and also worked on wildlife censuses, according to online reports.

In 2006, she married Ali Kazmi, a computer science engineer, and moved to the US. The couple has lived in Illinois' Naperville area for nearly 20 years and has two children.