Meet Rashida
Rashida currently serves Michigan’s 12th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Raised in Southwest Detroit in a proud working-class union household as the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, Rashida learned early on the importance of community, service, and standing up for working people. As the eldest of 14 children, she has been taking care of people most of her life. She considers herself a social worker at heart and her colleagues in Congress have given her the nickname Mama Bear. She fights against systems that hurt people and doesn’t back down.
A proud member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Rashida has secured more than $68 million in direct federal funding for her local communities, and her advocacy has resulted in billions more being dedicated to water affordability, lead service line replacement, and local infrastructure projects. She has worked tirelessly to lower costs for working families, expand access to clean air and water, and deliver direct support to residents through her neighborhood service centers.
Rashida’s background
Rashida has been breaking barriers her whole life. She grew up the eldest of 14 children in a working-class UAW family in southwest Detroit, the proud daughter of Palestinian immigrants. Rashida has made history as the first Muslim woman ever elected to the Michigan Legislature, one of the first two Muslim women in the U.S. Congress, and the first Palestinian-American woman to serve in Congress.
Throughout her time in office, she’s focused on helping her constituents get through everyday challenges, while holding corporate polluters and billionaires accountable for taking advantage of the communities she represents. A bold, transformative leader and public servant, Rashida is fighting for families of all backgrounds, especially people who’ve been left out and marginalized. She’s a proud democratic socialist and member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Rooted in community
Rashida is raising her children in her beloved hometown of Detroit, the birthplace of powerful social movements. In her community, she was taught to speak truth to power, even if her voice shakes. As a long-time activist, Rashida partners with grassroots groups on the ground to help craft policy and make a difference in her constituents’ lives today.
Rashida and her team created Neighborhood Service Centers in the congressional district, which help people with college debt, veterans’ services, immigration issues, Social Security and disability benefits, utility and water payments, advocacy on tenant issues, legal services, assistance with navigating government services, tax returns, securing back pay, and more. Rashida understands that supporting constituents through everyday issues is as important as getting a bill passed. Her constituent services team has delivered more than $12.6 million directly back to residents through June 2026.
Guided by the belief that everyone — not just the wealthy and privileged — deserves access to opportunity and a better quality of life, Rashida has dedicated her life to amplifying and addressing the concerns of everyday people in her district, across Michigan, and around the country.
In Congress
In 2018, Rashida ran for Congress to lift up the voices of people from her community. She is now serving her fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Immediately upon taking office, Rashida created Neighborhood Service Centers throughout the district, which have brought more than $12.6 million back to her constituents and resolved nearly 13,000 constituent cases.
Rashida has also secured $68 million in federal funding for 55 local projects that directly benefit youth, seniors, and more communities in need of this kind of investment. This includes $10 million to replace dangerous lead service lines and support the right to clean water, as well as funding to provide affordable housing, to address flooding, to develop wellness hubs and expand clinics in the effort toward health equity, to expand high-speed broadband, to clean up industrial pollution, and more. See details by city here .
Rashida has helped raise over $500,000 for U.S.-based nonprofit organizations, including over $140,000 for local community-based organizations providing food and other essential resources to her district’s residents. This includes raising over $21,000 to bail out Michigan mothers on Mothers’ Day — people who were stuck in jail simply because they could not afford to pay cash bail.
Rashida is also beloved by district residents for fighting for clean water and clean air. For example, she helped create a fund totalling $1.1 billion to stop water shutoffs during the pandemic and helped secure $15 billion for lead service line removal. She also introduced legislation to establish the first-ever permanent, federal low-income water affordability program.
Her first bill passed and signed into law in Congress was the Payee Fraud Prevention Act , putting an end to fraudulent scams targeting vulnerable retirees and their pensions. Rashida has secured numerous amendments to bills that have been signed into law, and she has passed bold legislation in the House.
Her efforts are focused on improving the lives of residents in her district by lowering costs for working families and confronting corporate greed. Her legislative work includes the Medicines for the People Act to challenge pharmaceutical monopolies and lower prescription drug prices and the Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act to crack down on corporate price manipulation driving up food costs for working families.
Rashida has always fought for what’s right, even when it’s unpopular. For example, she was one of the first members of Congress to take on President Trump and demand accountability for his lawless and unconstitutional actions. She led successful impeachment efforts against him, twice.
In Congress, Rashida is a founding member and co-chair of the Get the Lead Out Caucus, the Mamas’ Caucus, and the People’s Environmental Justice Caucus. She is a Vice Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and she serves on the House Oversight Committee. She is also a member of the House Financial Services Committee, where she is on subcommittees for Oversight and Investigations, Housing Community Development and Insurance, and Consumer Protections and Financial Institutions.
Rashida will keep working tirelessly to improve the quality of life for our communities through policy and action. Her commitment to staying rooted in the community is what sets Rashida apart as a public servant who puts people first.
Serving as State Representative
While serving in Lansing for 6 years as a Michigan State Representative, Rashida was instrumental in restoring and securing millions of dollars for free health clinics, lead abatement programs, Meals on Wheels delivery for seniors, before- and after-school programs, and bilingual education.
She authored laws to protect homeowners from fraudulent mortgage bankers, stop predatory tax preparers, and prevent scrap metal thieves from destroying our communities. And she successfully took on corporate polluters such as the Koch brothers and Marathon Oil, forcing them to remove toxic pollutants from Detroit’s riverfront.
Members of the House are responsible for introducing and voting on federal legislation, representing the interests of their constituents, and providing oversight of the executive branch. Key powers include drafting bills, serving on committees, approving the federal budget, and voting on matters of national policy, including declarations of war and presidential impeachments.