The Indian-origin politician became the first South Asian woman elected to the Illinois General Assembly.
Indian-origin politician Saba Haider, who won a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives, said her childhood in Ghaziabad and her parents' values influenced her approach to public service, according to ThePrint.
Haider won the November 3 US mid-term election for the Illinois 84th House District. She secured 20,756 votes, representing 70.9 per cent of the vote, against Republican candidate Brian Scopa.
The politician, who traces her roots to Aurangabad in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district, is the first South Asian woman elected to the Illinois General Assembly.
Haider stated that her parents, a government engineer and a homemaker, followed a principle of assisting anyone in need regardless of their background. She recalled watching them help neighbours with hospital visits and providing books to children.
She said her father taught her that privilege should be used for service rather than comfort. Haider noted that she adopted similar habits as a teenager by tutoring local children for free and assisting elderly neighbours.
These early experiences have shaped her political focus on making education affordable, addressing the cost of living, and creating safer communities for children, she said.
