She’s built a career, raised a family and served as a community organizer. Now Shazia Hoq is trying to do something she’s never done before. In fact no one has. On Nov. 3, Hoq could become the first Bangladeshi American ever elected to public office in Los Angeles County.
Hoq is running for the District 1 seat on the Montebello City Council. She hopes her campaign encourages more Bangladeshi Americans, especially women, to consider political leadership.
“For nearly 50 years, Bangladeshi Americans have been building their lives, businesses and communities in California,” she told The LA Local. “We have made significant contributions through entrepreneurship, education, cultural activities and community service. However, our representation in American political leadership remains limited.”
Hoq’s candidacy comes as two other Bangladeshi Americans are running for City Council in Southern California, reflecting a growing interest in political representation across the region. The others are Mohammed Rahman, who is running for the District 1 seat on the Perris City Council, and M.S. Alam is running for the District 3 seat on the Chino City Council.
The Montebello race
Hoq said that her campaign focuses on public safety, clean neighborhoods, government transparency, responsible budgeting and support for local businesses. She says her decision to run grew from years of community service and her experience working with families, residents and business owners, rather than one particular event.
Hoq came to the United States from Bangladesh at a young age and grew up in Los Angeles. She served two terms as vice president of the Wilshire Center-Koreatown Neighborhood Council. She has lived in Montebello for the past three years.
In the Nov. 3 election, she faces incumbent Mayor Georgina Tamayo, Councilmember Kimberly Cobos-Cawthorne and Rafael Santoya, a licensed marriage and family therapist.
Montebello held its first by-district City Council elections in 2022, and this is the first time the District 1 seat has come up since. District elections, adopted by dozens of California cities in recent years, are often credited with making it easier for newcomers and candidates from smaller communities to compete.
Still, Hoq will need support well beyond her own community. Montebello is about 79% Latino and 13% Asian, according to census estimates.
A growing Bangladeshi American population
The nation’s Bangladeshi American population has grown rapidly. About 270,000 people in the U.S. identify as Bangladeshi, up from roughly 40,000 in 2000, according to the Pew Research Center. California, with about 18,000, has the third-largest Bangladeshi population of any state.
In Los Angeles County, the Bangladeshi population has grown by about 50% in the past decade to just under 8,000. Little Bangladesh, a stretch of Third Street in Koreatown, received official city designation in 2010 after residents spent more than a year lobbying the Los Angeles City Council. It remainsone of the community’s most visible civic wins in LA.
Hoq said Bangladeshi Americans in Southern California are gradually becoming more interested in local politics. Many families spent their early years in the U.S. establishing themselves, building businesses and raising children. Now, she said, more people are looking beyond their immediate communities and seeking a role in the decisions that shape the cities where they live.
The numbers support that timeline. More than half of Bangladeshi immigrants in the U.S. have lived here for more than a decade, and 60% are naturalized citizens, eligible to vote and run for office, according to Pew.
