Page 20 - Deqa Dhalac News Today

PORTLAND, Maine — Deqa Dhalac is the first Somali immigrant to become the mayor of a U.S. city, but she describes her rise in local politics as very old fashioned.

Deqa Dhalac was scheduled to become mayor of the state’s fourth-largest city on Monday

Deqa Dhalac saw it in their faces when she started campaigning.

On Monday, Deqa Dhalac became the first Black mayor of the small Maine city of South Portland. And shes believed to be the first Somali American mayor in the United States.

"People will always have some kind of reservation ... but will get to know you, listen to you and see who you are through that," she says.

"People will always have some kind of reservation ... but will get to know you, listen to you and see who you are through that," she says.

"People will always have some kind of reservation ... but will get to know you, listen to you and see who you are through that," she says.

"People will always have some kind of reservation ... but will get to know you, listen to you and see who you are through that," she says.

"People will always have some kind of reservation ... but will get to know you, listen to you and see who you are through that," she says.

South Portland has a new mayor, and perhaps the door opening for Maine's newer immigrants. Deqa Dhalac, was chosen by the South Portland Council Monday for the post of Mayor. She may be the first Somali American mayor in the country.