Three members of the Turkish American community are running for elected office in 2017-2018. We expect more Turkish Americans to run for office, and we will continue to send out updates as we learn of new candidates.
Currently, there are two Turkish Americans serving as elected officials, Judge Jay Karahan of Houston, Texas and Judge Ali Paksoy of Shelby, North Carolina. To the best of our knowledge, only eight Turkish Americans have ever been elected to public office, all at the local level.
Hacibey Catalbasoglu
Turkish American Hacibey 'Haci' Catalbasoglu is running as an Independent in the November 7, 2017 general election for the Board of Alders for Ward 1 in New Haven, Connecticut. Haci is 19 years old and a junior at Yale University. He is the youngest Turkish American to ever run for public office. If elected he will be the youngest member of the current Board of Alders and one of the youngest Alders to ever serve on the Board.
As the son of Turkish immigrants who own a pizza restaurant in New Haven, Haci is campaigning to support small businesses and entrepreneurs as well as defend the city’s immigrant community. Additionally, his platform calls for a stronger connection between students and the local community since a majority of constituents in Ward 1 are students at Yale.
In 2017, Haci was nominated to serve on the city’s Commission on Homelessness after many years of volunteering and advocacy for the New Haven Livable City Initiative through New Haven’s Youth@Work program. He was recommended for confirmation to the Commission by a unanimous vote of the Board of Alders’ Aldermanic Affairs Committee on April 24, 2017. As a member of the Commission, Haci is tasked with advising New Haven Mayor Toni Harp on how to actively combat the homelessness epidemic in New Haven. In the summer of 2016, Haci also had the opportunity to intern for U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT).
Judge Jay Karahan
A principled and dedicated public servant, Turkish American Judge Ceyhun ‘Jay’ Karahan has served on the Harris County Criminal Court No. 8 in Houston, Texas for 14 years. He is seeking a fourth term and will be running in the Republican Primary on March 6, 2018. The general election will be held November 6, 2018. Since 2003, Judge Karahan has managed over 75,000 cases, presided over 550 trials, and supervised more than 12,000 probationers.
Judge Karahan is a native of Tampa, Florida and moved to Texas in 1979 to study law at South Texas College of Law. As both a state and federal prosecutor, he tried over 100 serious felony cases to jury verdict. He is licensed to practice before the Texas Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Judicial Circuit. Judge Karahan is one of two Turkish Americans currently serving in elected office.
Lauren Arikan
Lauren Arikan, wife of Turkish American Yusuf Arikan, is running for the House of Delegates in Maryland’s 7th District in the Republican Primary on June 26, 2018. The Arikans live with their three children in Jarrettsville, Maryland on their 8-acre farm where they raise poultry and dairy goats. They own and manage an accounting and staffing firm, Arikan Accounting. Lauren also owns and operates an investment company, Arikan Investments.
Lauren is a member of the Harford County Republican Women’s Club and the Maryland Federation of Republican Women. She has spent the last several years regularly testifying in Annapolis against legislation that harms parental rights. Community service is a huge part of Lauren’s life. As a teen, she was a Girl Scout Gold Award recipient. In 2014, she founded Birth Circle of Baltimore, which is a monthly community group that offers free peer support to women during their childbearing years and beyond. She also served on the board of Maryland Friends of Midwives, a local 501(c)3, that supports midwifery in Maryland. The general election in Maryland will be held on November 6, 2018.
*As a 501©3 charitable organization, TCA is prohibited by law from engaging in activities that could be construed as political campaigning. TCA cannot donate funds to a political action committee or support any political candidate or group of candidates. Thus, this bulletin is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement of any candidates/PACs or a solicitation on their behalf.
