Reports have emerged that a Nigerian, Mr Gabe Okoye, is running for the forthcoming Democratic Party’s senatorial primary runoff election in the U.S.
It was learnt the politician who hails from Enugwu-Aguleri, Anambra State, is vying for the main opposition party’s ticket for the general election into the Georgia State Senate to represent District 9.
A chieftain of the party in the state, Okoye faces Nikki Merritt, a black female opposition in the second round scheduled for Aug 11.
Both aspirants, it was gathered, advanced to the runoff stage after defeating a third aspirant, Cheryle Moses, in the first round of the primary held on June 9 and the winner will face the incumbent Republican Senator, Peter Martin, who has been representing the district since 2015 and is seeking re-election.
According to him, he was also aspiring to give the black community in Gwinnet County, a strong voice at the state level.
Meanwhile, the senatorial hopeful carved a niche for himself while serving as the Democratic Party chairman in the local government between 2016 and 2018.
The tide, however, turned when Okoye led the party into the 2018 mid-term elections and recorded historic wins, capturing 13 elected offices, including the majority of Gwinnett seats in the Georgia state legislature, from the Republicans, who currently hold only seven positions.
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The Democratic Party swept the two county commission seats that were up for election and also took one of the two School Board seats contested for.
He said:
Under my leadership of the party, we elected the first black commissioner, first black school board member, and also the first black Solicitor-General of the county in its 200-year history as of 2018.
The Democratic Party also produced the first black state judge from this county under my watch.
Okoye is currently a Planning Commissioner in Gwinnett County, the second-most populous local government in Georgia, and is the first black man to serve as a commissioner in the county’s 202-year history.
The civil engineer and founder of Georgia-based construction firm, Essex Geoscience, also currently serves on the Executive Committee Board of the Gwinnett and state chapters of the Democratic Party.