Former Afghan refugee running for NH house
1,619 views · Published 30 October 2018 · 2:28 · Indexed 29 September 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(25 Oct 2018) For Safiya Wazir, the campaign trail stretches from Afghanistan to Concord, New Hampshire. The 27-year-old Democrat is running for a seat in the 400-member New Hampshire House of Representatives after knocking off Dick Patten, a four-term incumbent in last month's primary. It was a surprising victory for a young, female candidate new to both politics and - compared with her opponent - the country. "Take that, Donald Trump!" crowed Democratic National Committeewoman Kathy Sullivan in presenting Wazir with a "Courage in Leadership" award this month. Wazir and her family fled the Taliban in 1997, when she was six. They spent 10 years in Uzbekistan before moving to Concord, where she graduated from high school and college and became a US citizen. Her Republican challenger, Dennis Soucy, says Wazir is getting all the attention for being a refugee, but he's had a hard life, too, building a life around military and community service after growing up poor. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/ba6ebc8fbefb9a0e1150eea7f57878f4
