Samba Baldeh facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Samba Baldeh
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| Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 48th district |
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| In office January 4, 2021 – January 6, 2025 |
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| Preceded by | Melissa Agard |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Hysell |
| President of the Madison Common Council | |
| In office April 17, 2018 – April 16, 2019 |
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| Preceded by | Marsha Rummel |
| Succeeded by | Shiva Bidar |
| Member of the Madison Common Council from the 17th district | |
| In office April 21, 2015 – April 6, 2021 |
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| Preceded by | Joe Clausius |
| Succeeded by | Gary Halverson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 10, 1971 Choya Village, The Gambia |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations |
Progressive Dane |
| Spouse | Fatou |
| Residence | Madison, Wisconsin |
| Alma mater | Madison Area Technical College (AS) University of the Gambia University of Wisconsin, Madison |
| Occupation | Politician, legislator, IT professional |
| Website | Official website: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2023/legislators/assembly/2446 Campaign website |
Samba Baldeh (born September 10, 1971) is a politician from Madison, Wisconsin. He came to the United States from The Gambia, a country in West Africa. He worked in information technology before becoming a Democratic politician.
Mr. Baldeh served two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 48th Assembly District from 2021 to 2025. He was the first Muslim person to be a member of the Wisconsin Legislature. Before joining the Assembly, he spent six years on the Madison Common Council, which is like a city council. He was even the president of the Council from 2018 to 2019.
Early Life and Education
Samba Baldeh was born in The Gambia, a country located in western Africa. He is part of the Fulani tribe, who are known for being semi-nomadic livestock herders. His father passed away when Samba was about four years old.
In his home village of Choya, which had only about fifty people, there was not much formal schooling. Children there learned Arabic, studied the Quran, and were taught how to pray. Samba was very curious. He would walk six miles every day to a "western" school where he learned to read and speak English. When he was eight, his family agreed to let him move to the capital city, Banjul, to live with his uncle and continue his education.
He went to college at the University of the Gambia. While there, he became involved in protests against the country's leader at the time, Yahya Jammeh. His activism led him to a conference in Washington, D.C. in 1999. At this conference, he met a student who worked for Madison Area Technical College. After the meeting, he decided he wanted to study science and technology further.
In 2000, he moved to Madison, Wisconsin. He became a U.S. citizen in 2005. He studied computer science and earned his associate's degree from Madison Area Technical College in 2007. After getting his degree, Mr. Baldeh started his own small business helping people with computers. He also worked as a software engineer at American Family Insurance, a company based in Madison.
Political Career and Public Service
In 2015, Samba Baldeh decided to run for a seat on the Madison Common Council. He ran against Joe Clausius, who had been on the council for eight years. Mr. Baldeh's campaign focused on helping the city's neighborhoods more, rather than just developing the downtown area. He wanted to improve services and create more community spaces. In the election held in April 2015, Mr. Baldeh won by a very small margin, with only 32 more votes than his opponent. When he ran for reelection in 2017, no one ran against him, so he won easily.
In April 2018, the members of the common council all voted for Mr. Baldeh to be their president for the 2018–2019 term. He spoke out after the 2019 election, when many council members and the long-time Mayor of Madison, Paul Soglin, were voted out. He noted that such big changes might make things difficult until the new members learned their roles. He wanted to bring attention back to important city issues, like the development of the Judge Doyle Square project.
In January 2020, the representative for northern Madison in the state assembly, Melissa Sargent, announced she would not run for reelection. Instead, she decided to run for a new open seat in the Wisconsin State Senate. Samba Baldeh was one of four Democrats who ran in the primary election to take her place in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Mr. Baldeh won the primary with almost 50% of the votes. In the general election, he ran against 19-year-old Republican Samuel Anderson. Mr. Baldeh won with nearly 80% of the votes in his district, which usually votes for Democrats.
Personal Life and Community Involvement
Samba Baldeh was born into the Fulani tribe, who are semi-nomadic livestock herders. His mother still lives in The Gambia. Besides his work and political career, Mr. Baldeh has been very active in his community.
He has worked with the Kanifing-Madison sister city project, which connects Madison with a city in The Gambia. He has also been involved with the AIDS Network, the Senegambia Association, and the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Madison. He has served on the boards of the Young African Leaders Initiative and the 100 Black Men of Madison.
In 2016, he was invited by Wisconsin congressman Mark Pocan to attend President Barack Obama's 2016 State of the Union Address.
Samba Baldeh and his wife, Fatou, were married in 2008. They live on the north side of Madison.
