Draft:Liban Mohamed

Mohamed was born in November 1998 in Logan, Utah, to Somali-American immigrants. His parents are both educators: his father is an economist, and his mother is a nutritionist; both earned their PhDs from Utah State University. He grew up in Ogden, Utah.^[6]

He attended Utah State University Eastern where he played for the men’s soccer team and earned his associate degree. He later attended the University of Utah, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Strategic Communications.

Most recently, Mohamed worked for TikTok’s public policy team, managing the company’s response to political investigations and defending the voices of 180 million Americans, protecting 224,000 jobs, and safeguarding thousands of small businesses, including many in Utah.

Before that, he worked at Meta Platforms Inc., parent company of Instagram and Facebook, on their data center policy team focused on sustainability.

Earlier, Mohamed served as Utah’s Government Relations Director at the American Heart Association, where he secured life-saving CPR training for schools and dispatch centers, and co-led the effort to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from six months to a full year.

Following a 2024 Utah Supreme Court ruling and a subsequent 2025 District Court order in League of Women Voters of Utah v. Utah State Legislature, Utah's congressional boundaries were redrawn for the 2026 election cycle. The court found that the previous map unconstitutionally diluted the votes of Salt Lake County residents. The newly created 1st Congressional District was transformed from a Republican-leaning northern Utah seat into a compact, competitive district centered in northern Salt Lake County. This geographic shift was cited by political analysts as a primary factor in the district becoming a "toss-up" seat, providing a rare opportunity for a Democratic candidate to win a federal seat in the state.

Mohamed announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in Utah’s newly created 1st Congressional District on January 5, 2026, at a time when Somali-Americans faced isolated incidents of hate in the United States. President Donald Trump pointed criticism at members of the Somali community in the United States, calling them “garbage”^[7] and “I don’t want them in our country.” Mohamed’s campaign video announcement was met with racially and religiously charged comments on social media. Brian S. King, Chair of the Utah Democratic Party, took to X to denounce^[8] the targeted hate against Mohamed, even while refraining from taking a position on the Democratic nominee so early in the race.^[9]

In April 2026, Liban Mohamed secured^[10] top delegates support at the 2026 Utah Democratic Convention in Utah’s 1st Congressional District, winning 51.5% of the delegate vote over former U.S. Congressman Ben McAdams.^{[11][4][12][13][14]}

Mohamed’s campaign has won endorsements from U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Utah House Minority Leader Angela Romero, Utah State Representative Sandra Hollins, Former UT-01 Candidate and Utah State Senator Derek Kitchen, Minnesota State Senator Omar Fateh, and several Utah-based progressive and minority caucuses, such as the Utah State Progressive Caucus and Utah Democratic Women’s Caucus.^[14][11]

Mohamed is an American of Somali descent and a practicing Muslim.

He played soccer throughout his childhood and college and continues to play recreationally.