US Immigrant candidate group make first round of endorsements for 2026 election cycle

A US immigrant candidate advocacy group made their first round of endorsements for the 2026 election cycle.

New American Leaders Action Fund, who support and train first and second-generation Americans for public office, announced their endorsements Monday for eight candidates.

They've chosen to endorse one candidate in New Jersey for state assembly, Balvir Singh; four in New York for city council, Alexa Avilés, Shahana Hanif, Rita Joseph and Edafe Okporo; two in Virginia for state house delegates, May Nivar and Sam Rasoul; and one in Texas for San Antonio city council, Kelly Ann Gonzalez.

This is their first of four rounds of endorsement rollouts, with the next taking place in July. To choose their endorsements, NAL Action Fund focus on candidates who are pro-democracy and who expand access to voter engagement.

"This could mean eradicating voter IDs and urging for there to be more polling sites, and not just being the face of communities but also fighting for those communities," Anne Flomenhaft, national political director of NAL Action Fund, told The New Arab following their announcement of the endorsements.

She noted that Shahana , aHanif daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants, introduced landmark legislation for protecting immigrant workers with was dubbed an immigrant bill of rights.

Another of their endorsees, Edafe Okporo, was an asylum seeker from Nigeria who had to leave his country of origin after coming out as gay and advocating for HIV patients. In 2021, he helped create a non-profit to help resettle Afghan refugees in the US.

Sam Rasoul, the son of Palestinian immigrants who was raised in rural Virginia, is the only Middle Eastern candidate in this slate of endorsements. The decade-long state delegate has been in the NAL network for 10 years, serving as a speaker and a trainer. He gained further prominence when he ran for lieutenant governor of Virginia in 2021. 

May Nivar, a second-generation Chinese American, is trying to flip a Republican seat in Virginia, where she is focused on jobs and healthcare access.

"We believe our candidates have been expanding the electorate to bring in new voters, reaching out to voters in a culturally competent language," said Flomenhaft. She believes first and second-generation Americans have the potential to swing elections in key states if they are well represented and engaged. 

Since 2019, New American Leaders Action Fund have endorsed 233 candidates, 150 of whom have gone on to serve in public office.

Many eyes are already on the 2026 midterms, as progressives and grassroots candidates are expected to do well following a rocky start to US President Donald Trump's second term as he faces record-low approval ratings in his first several months in office.