Samba Baldeh, a Gambian-American has become the first-ever Gambian to run for an American State Assembly in the city of Madison, Wisconsin.  

Before deciding to run for the 48th Assembly District seat, he has been a member and president of the Madison Common Council, representing District 17 in Wisconsin since 2015. 

Affiliated with the Democratic Party, Baldeh is running with his eyes set on improving school funding, criminal justice reform, affordable housing, and access to health care among many other social issues for his district.  

Speaking to Madison-based Cap Times Newspaper, Baldeh emphasized his commitment to serve his district just as he has been doing many years before and after he became an Alderman. 

He said: “As I did in my campaign for the Madison Common Council, I will bring together a diverse group of individuals and communities and encourage all to share their perspectives. As a servant-leader, I am confident that together we can succeed and bring about the changes we aspire to.”

Baldeh was born and partly raised in the small Gambian village of Choya before heading to Banjul for further education. Ambitious and yearning for better education, he travelled to the United States of America where he pursued further education in IT at Madison College and worked as an IT project manager for an insurance company.