Abdi Warsame

The Star Tribune, Minnesota's largest newspaper, noted Warsame's stature by stating "there is the work of being one of the most prominent Somali-Americans in the country, at a time when the Somali community is making inroads in politics, business and education — but also pushing back against a wave of news about young Somalis trying to link up with terrorist groups overseas. In between council meetings and city business, Warsame’s calendar is filled with visits from East African dignitaries, trips to other Somali communities in the United States and casual conversations with people who need help with problems large and small."

Warsame ran in the 2013 Minneapolis municipal elections to represent Ward 6 on the Minneapolis City Council.

On November 5, 2013, Warsame was elected to represent the predominantly East-African Ward 6 on the Minneapolis City Council. He was the first-choice preference of 64% of voters, and received 40% of second-choice votes, and 20% of third-choice votes. The incumbent, Robert Lilligren, received 32% of first-choice votes, almost 27% of second-choice votes, and 13% of third-choice votes. The victory makes Warsame the first Somali American to hold the position. Warsame and Ahmed M. Hassan, who was elected to the Clarkston, Georgia City Council on the same day, are the first Somali Americans to be elected to municipal offices in the United States and the highest elected Somali Americans in the country. Warsame's election set civic precedence in the Somali American community of Minneapolis, in which his campaign energized and mobilized this sub-community's powerful voting bloc.

Warsame first entered politics in 2011, while working on Mohamud Noor's campaign for a state Senate seat on a DFL ticket.

In 2006, Warsame immigrated to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Abdi Warsame (Somali: Cabdi Warsame, Arabic: عبدي وارسام ‎) (born 1978) is a Somali-American politician and member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After moving to London as an asylum seeker, he immigrated to Minnesota in 2006. In November 2013, he was elected to the Minneapolis City Council, becoming the first Somali official to be elected to the position. Warsame was reelected for a second term in 2017.

Warsame was born on March 5, 1978 in Mogadishu, Somalia. In the late 1980s, he along with his family sought asylum in London.