Indian American politician Nabeela Syed has scored a major victory in the 2026 U.S. midterm elections, defeating Republican Darby Hills to flip a Republican-held seat in the Illinois state Senate.
Syed won Illinois Senate District 26, which covers the state’s northwest suburbs of Chicago, with 57% of the vote against Hills’ 43%, according to election results reported by local media. Her victory gives Democrats a seat previously held by Republicans and marks another milestone in Syed’s political career.
The win builds on the history she made in 2022, when she was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives at the age of 23. An Indian American Muslim, Syed became one of the youngest lawmakers in the Illinois General Assembly and one of the first Muslim women to serve in the state legislature.
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During her time in the House, Syed focused on issues including consumer protection, health care and voting access. Her Senate campaign brought another set of concerns to the forefront, particularly the impact of artificial intelligence data centers on local communities.
In the final weeks of the campaign, Syed used an advertisement featuring her riding an electric scooter to address concerns over data centers, electricity costs and taxes. She argued that technology companies should bear the cost of the enormous amounts of power their facilities consume rather than passing the burden on to residents through higher electricity bills.
The issue became a central point of her contest with Hills, as residents raised concerns about the environmental impact, noise and energy demands of new data center projects. Syed supported Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a fellow Democrat, when he signed legislation described by his administration as a major step toward strengthening accountability in artificial intelligence. She also backed his decision to pause tax incentives for new data centers amid growing public concern.
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Hills also pledged to make data center developers more accountable during the closing weeks of the race, highlighting how concerns about the rapid expansion of these facilities have reached voters across party lines.
Syed’s victory came on an election night when Democrats made gains in several contests across the country, in a broader setback for President Donald Trump and his party.
Announcing her win on Instagram, Syed thanked the voters who supported her campaign. “I am so grateful to every single voter in the 26th Senate District who made this victory possible,” she wrote.
Her move from the Illinois House to the state Senate marks a significant step forward for the young Indian American lawmaker as she prepares to represent her district on a wider stage.