Zainab Mohsini

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Zainab Mohsini

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 23, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Virginia Tech, 2015

Other

Northern Virginia Community College

Personal

Religion

Islam

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Zainab Mohsini (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Virginia's 11th Congressional District. She lost in the Democratic primary on June 23, 2020.

Mohsini completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Zainab Mohsini was born in Afghanistan. She attended the Northern Virginia Community College and then transferred to Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Public University (Virginia Tech), where she obtained a bachelor's degree in communications in May 2015. Mohsini described her professional experience as being a "legal coordinator at a reproductive health access organization."

Elections

2020

See also: Virginia's 11th Congressional District election, 2020

Virginia's 11th Congressional District election, 2020 (June 23 Democratic primary)

Virginia's 11th Congressional District election, 2020 (June 20 Republican convention)

General election

General election for U.S. House Virginia District 11

Incumbent Gerald Edward Connolly defeated Manga Anantatmula in the general election for U.S. House Virginia District 11 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gerald Edward Connolly (D)	71.4	280,725
		Manga Anantatmula (R)	28.3	111,380
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	1,136

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 393,241
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Stevan Porter (L)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Virginia District 11

Incumbent Gerald Edward Connolly defeated Zainab Mohsini in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Virginia District 11 on June 23, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gerald Edward Connolly	77.6	50,626
		Zainab Mohsini	22.4	14,610

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 65,236
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican convention

Republican convention for U.S. House Virginia District 11

Manga Anantatmula advanced from the Republican convention for U.S. House Virginia District 11 on June 20, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Manga Anantatmula (R)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Zainab Mohsini completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Mohsini's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Zainab Mohsini, a first-generation Afghan-American, is from Aloha, Oregon. In 2003, the UNHCR placed Zainab's family in Oregon. They moved to Virginia 14 years ago. She attended NVCC and later transferred to the Virginia Tech where she earned a Bachelor's degree. In college, Zainab held several retail, food services, and clerical positions. She became the first person in her family to graduate college.

Zainab entered the workforce with debt and accepted jobs in the gig economy. She worked as a temp in unfavorable office conditions. Despite laboring long hours, she gave back to her community by volunteering at immigrant organizations. Her desire to be more involved in social activism lead Zainab to complete two terms as an AmeriCorps volunteer. In her role, Zainab supported individuals navigate the realities of being a low-income student. Zainab led trainings on racial justice, women's rights, and LGBTQ+ issues.

Zainab fights for change through canvassing, protesting, and supporting progressive candidates and policies. She teaches citizenship classes, volunteers at community clinics, and finds ways to support others. Zainab knows firsthand what it's like to face poverty, live paycheck to paycheck, the effects of discrimination because of your name, class, religion, sex, or race. Zainab wants to re-center politics around working people so that our government works for those struggling to make ends meet, not for corporate interests of the rich and powerful.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Immigrant Justice: Pathway to citizenship for all undocumented and TPS holding people.
• Education Equity: Free Universal Pre-K, Free Public Colleges & Universities, and Student Loan Debt Forgiveness
• Racial Justice & Equity: Passing a 21st Century Civil Rights and Voting Rights Act to eliminate racial discrimination in Housing, Education, and Healthcare

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Zainab is building her campaign around the progressive policies of expanding immigrant rights, reforming the education system, and implementing racial justice. Trump's policies have separated families through deportations. Growing communities need access to public education, but redistricting and funding practices often leave communities of color under-resourced. Huge wealth gaps between People of Color and white people mean that many communities are struggling to get by. Focusing on core issues that affect constituents everyday lives, such as immigrant rights, education reform, and racial justice is a movement that she feels passionate about.

In reforming the immigration, educational, and economic systems, Zainab wants to take concrete steps to progress racial justice. To uplift communities of color, Zainab will stand against big money in politics, who consistently build up the white wealthy class at the expense of working People of Color. She'll support unions and a high livable minimum wage, increase affordable housing, and work with others to investigate the best ways to pay reparations for slavery and systemic racism. These central policy concerns of immigration, education, and racial equity are the core of Zainab's grassroots campaign to make social change.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Politicians often lack a moral backbone when they're not campaigning. Since elected officials are often more focused on securing campaign donations, planning for re-election, and safeguarding their own power, the values of the constituents generally fall through the cracks. Representatives need to be willing to fight boldly for policies that center those who are most marginalized in our society. To create social justice through progressive policymaking, an elected official must be courageous, critical, and compassionate. With courage, politicians can focus more about fighting for what is right versus what is easy. With a critical lens, representatives can think about the consequences of their actions and create comprehensive new laws. As a compassionate official, politicians can listen to their constituents and fight to center the experiences of those who suffer the most from societal inequities.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

During the last decade, I have labored at working class jobs and been involved in my community, which means I personally connect with the experiences of the people in my district. From working through college, navigating temporary assignments and service jobs, as well as helping at political events and protests, I have the real-world experiences that are the basis of my progressive platform. I know how to navigate the world as a working class, immigrant, Muslim woman of color; code-switch in multiple sociocultural environments; and find ways to inspire my community.

Empathy and resilience are two values that I center when engaging in social activism. I focus on listening to understand and connect with the perspectives of those around me so that I can better comprehend the priorities of my friends and neighbors. My varied personal experiences means that I can connect deeply with the stories of those around me and have a better lens to see their struggles. Additionally, I fight hard to overcome obstacles. I am committed to my goals and won't give up on those who I care for. My constituents and my community are at the heart of my progressive agenda. I will always center the people of my district in my political life. These qualities make me an ideal candidate for political office in Congress.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The rise of the Taliban was the first historical event that I can remember. I was eight years old at the time. As a targeted minority ethnic and religious group in Afghanistan we were especially vigilant of their takeover. The execution of Afghan President at the time, Dr. Najibullah, was printed in the newspaper in a graphic manner. It was heart-breaking and I don't think I had the maturity to process it at that age. Thinking back, it is one of the darkest times in the modern history of Afghanistan. Afghans at home and all around the world are still living the legacy of this traumatic violence.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was in high school. I worked at Safeway as a courtesy clerk for about a year. In this position I collected shopping carts and helped customers carry and load their groceries in their cars. Oregon has a bottle return policy where people can recycle their soft drink containers in exchange for money. I was responsible for emptying the machines when they were full with recyclable materials. I learned many valuable customer service skills and teamwork.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay is my favorite book.

My personal experiences as a Person of Color and sexual assault survivor deeply resonate with the stories that Gay tells in her collection of essays.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Eleanor Shellstrop from The Good Place because she tries hard to be a good person. She uses her wit and rebellious attitude to succeed while uplifting those around her.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Jai Jai Shivshankar from the movie War- it's a very catchy song and has amazing choreography.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

The next decade is one where we, as a nation, will decide our identity. Rising nationalism and the politics of hatred mean extremists on the political right are intensifying a campaign against those who face societal discrimination, such as People of Color, religious minorities, women, and LGBTQ+ people. These fascist trends are threatening to erode the foundations of the Voting Rights Act and make it so People of Color can't participate in the political process. To fight for an inclusive, diverse, equitable society, we need to tackle these issues head on. We must create policies that end White Nationalism, create a more economically equitable society, and expand human rights and liberation. Fighting for immigrants, refugees, racial equity, and educational reform are the keys to building a world where everyone has the opportunity to be free and thrive.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

Our current political system encourages power hoarding. Those who are elected into office tend to focus primarily on securing their re-election so that they can continue to stay in positions of influence over a long period. To safeguard their offices, politicians tend to involve themselves in local elections to elevate supporters. Therefore, politics can become more about the struggle to stay in power instead of the endeavor to use power to bring about social change. I support term limits so that politics stops being a dynastic oligarchical spectacle and, instead, becomes an effort to best serve one's constituents.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2020 Elections

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Footnotes

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Virginia's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Tim Kaine (D)

Mark Warner (D)

Representatives

District 1

Rob Wittman (R)

District 2

Jennifer Kiggans (R)

District 3

Bobby Scott (D)

District 4

Jennifer McClellan (D)

District 5

John McGuire (R)

District 6

Benjamin Lee Cline (R)

District 7

Eugene Vindman (D)

District 8

Donald Sternoff Beyer (D)

District 9

H. Morgan Griffith (R)

District 10

Suhas Subramanyam (D)

District 11

James Walkinshaw (D)

Democratic Party (8)

Republican Party (5)