Sam Rasoul


Sam Rasoul is an American politician. A Democrat, Rasoul was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in January 2014. He is the one of two Muslim members of the Virginia General Assembly. He represents the 11th District, which is made up of part of the City of Roanoke.

Political career

Rasoul first ran for elected office in 2008 when he challenged incumbent Republican Bob Goodlatte for Virginia's 6th Congressional seat. Rasoul earned 36% to Goodlatte's 61%.
Rasoul was elected in a special election held on January 7, 2014. The special election was held to fill the vacancy created by the resignation, in November 2013, of Delegate Onzlee Ware. After winning the Democratic primary by 44 votes, Rasoul received nearly 70% of the vote over his Republican opponent Octavia Johnson in the general election. He was inducted into office on January 8, 2014.
In September 2016 he initiated House Joint Resolution 541 to the Virginia House of Delegates, a proposed amendment to the Virginia Constitution for "top two open primaries" for various Virginia elections, in which candidates from opposing parties would run on one ballot. The top two candidates in the proposed public primaries would subsequently compete in traditional one-on-one runoffs in Virginia's general elections.

Personal life

Rasoul was born in Warren, Ohio in 1981, the son of Palestinian immigrants. He and his wife Layaly have three children.

Electoral history