Ruwa Romman
American politician (born 1993)
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Ruwa Romman (Arabic: رواء رمان, born June 14, 1993) is an American politician serving as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives for the 97th district.[1][2][3] A Democrat, she is the first Palestinian and Muslim woman elected to the body.[4][1][2][3][5] She briefly ran for Governor of Georgia in the 2026 gubernatorial election, but withdrew before the primary and announced her campaign for State Senate.[6][7]
Ruwa Romman | |
|---|---|
رواء رمان | |
Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 97th district | |
| Assumed office January 9, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Beth Moore (redistricted) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 14, 1993 |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Shahzaib Jiwani |
| Education | Oglethorpe University (BA) Georgetown University (MPP) |
| Website | Campaign website |
Early life and education
Romman was born in Jordan to a Palestinian family and moved to the United States when she was seven years old.[8][9] Romman attended South Forsyth High School before going to Oglethorpe University and Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.[8] She graduated from McCourt with a Master of Public Policy in 2019.[3]
Career
After graduation, Romman worked for Deloitte as a senior consultant.[8] She has been involved in local politics and civic engagement groups since 2014 and co-founded the Georgia Volunteer Hub in 2020, which trained thousands of volunteers to support the Georgia Senate runoff election.[2][3]
In January 2022, Romman announced her candidacy for the Georgia House of Representative in District 97.[3] On May 24, 2022, Romman won the Democratic primary against JT Wu.[9] On November 8, 2022, Romman won the general election, making her the first Muslim woman to be elected into the Georgia State House of Representatives.[4][1]
During her 2022 campaign, Romman was endorsed by NARAL,[10] Fair Fight,[8] the Georgia Working Families Party,[8] and the Asian-American Advocacy Fund.[8][11] Romman campaigned on expanding health care access, protecting voting rights, supporting access to abortion and helping working families.[2]
On November 22, 2022, Romman was interviewed by journalist Peter Biello for Georgia Public Broadcasting.[12] In December 2022, Romman was interviewed by Geoff Bennett for a PBS News Hour segment titled "How Muslim American candidates made history in the midterms."[13]
Since November 2022, Romman is part of Georgia's first formal "Legislative Asian American Pacific Islander Caucus."[14]
In August 2024, Romman was one of three Palestinian-American names put forward by the Uncommitted National Movement to speak at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Upon refusal, the Uncommitted delegates staged a sit-in protest outside the doors of United Center and inside the security perimeter and stayed overnight before the last day of the convention.[15] None of the names put forward were allowed to speak.[16]
On November 5, 2024, Romman won re-election in Georgia State House of Representatives for House District 97.[17]
2026 gubernatorial campaign
On September 29, 2025, Romman announced she was running for Governor of Georgia in the 2026 election.[6] She withdrew from the campaign on February 25, 2026, saying she saw no path to victory, and instead announced a campaign for the Georgia State Senate in the 7th district.[7] She did not immediately endorse another candidate, but did say that that she opposed former Republican Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan's campaign for the Democratic nomination.[7]