Representative Nabeela Syed

Nabeela Syed is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 51st district. The 51st district, located in Chicago’s north suburbs, includes all or parts of Hawthorn Woods, Long Grove, Lake Zurich, Deer Park, Kildeer, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Hoffman Estates, and Schaumburg.

Born and raised in Palatine, Illinois, Nabeela’s parents immigrated to Palatine from Hyderabad, India during the 1980s. She completed her schooling at William Fremd High School. She then went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

Nabeela was inspired to become involved in politics in 2016, when she was a senior in high school, by the anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment in the country at the time, associated with Donald Trump. In 2021, she served as Campaign Manager for Township High School District 211 School Board Member Tim McGowan. She also worked as a digital strategist for a non-profit supporting their civic engagement efforts and served as an assistant director of Digital Strategy for the non-profit CivicNation.

In 2022, Nabeela ran for state representative for the 51st District against incumbent Republican Chris Bos. She focused her campaign on abortion access, healthcare affordability, and property tax reform. Nabeela out-raised Bos nine to one and defeated Bos with 22,775 votes (53.28%) to the incumbent’s 20,847 votes (46.72%).

She took office on January 11, 2023. At 24, Nabeela is one of the youngest people and one of the only Muslims to ever serve in the General Assembly. She is now a full-time legislator and is active in her religious community at the Islamic Society of Northwest Suburbs.