Ako Abdul-Samad

Ako Abdul-Samad is the Iowa State Representative from the 66th District. He has served in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2007. Previously, he had been a member of the Des Moines school board.

Abdul-Samad is the founder and CEO of Creative Visions Human Development Institute, a non-profit organization in Des Moines.

Abdul-Samad currently serves on several committees in the Iowa House - the Education committee; the Labor committee; the State Government committee; and the Human Resources committee, where he is vice chair. He also serves on the Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee.

Abdul-Samad also serves on the Health and Human Services Committee of the Midwestern Legislative Conference of the Council of State Governments.

Abdul-Samad was elected in 2006 with 3,459 votes (61%), defeating Republican opponent Jack Whitver, Libertarian opponent Brett Blanchfield, and Independent opponent Jeff Johannsen.

"Beat Whitey Night"

On August 24, 2010, Rep. Abdul-Samad drew criticism for his statement that "Beat Whitey Night", an incident where 30 to 40 black youths attacked white patrons leaving the Iowa State Fair, was not necessarily racially motivated and that police should consider other factors. "Beat Whitey Night" was allegedly referred to during the attacks, but it's unclear if this happened. This led to...
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