Mr. Baldeh, 48, an IT project engineer won the Democratic primary for the 48th Assembly District with nearly 50% of the vote followed by Lindsay Lemmer with 35% of the vote, Walter Stewart 10.7% and Sason Vangali 4.5% of the vote. He moved to Madison from Gambia two decades ago to pursue education. He will go on to face Republican candidate Samuel Anderson in the November election.
“My first priorities during my 100 days into office if elected will be criminal justice reforms, access to health care, access to education and global warming. That's the environment because I am a strong supporter of the Green Deal. My campaign was well coordinated throughout with focus on adding diversity to the state Legislature in order to tackle hard issues, such as systematic injustice among others.”
In an exclusive interview with The Point, Samba Baldeh reiterated his commitment to working for his state if elected, in order to get work done. He maintained that he would work hard for overhauling the state’s criminal justice system; education; housing and building back the economy, especially small businesses that are affected by the pandemic.
“If elected, I will make sure that laws that are passed are fair and the criminal justice is also fair and make sure that the public defender office is funded and fair so that they could stand for people fairly. I will also work with the local government. I will work hard to make sure that we have a police commission that will also hold the police department accountable. Make sure that federal laws that are passed are also respected,” he emphasised.
He added: “I think what resounded with voters was how clear our message was. Since at the beginning, we were very clear on what we will do, but we also were very clear on what our experience has been, as well as what the challenges are and what we want to do if we get elected.”
He recalled that during his time at the Kanifing East Youth Development Association in the country, he worked hard for the development of the youth, saying: “I have also been volunteering for lots of groups in the U.S.A. In 2015, I was first elected in the U.S.A. into office in Madison City Council. Six to seven months ago I decided to be running for state assembly in Wisconsin.”
“It was a four man race and I was able to defeat the other candidates with 50% of the votes. Hard work will always be paid and honesty to the people that you deal with and work hard and believe that it’s your responsibility to make the place better than the way you find it and that has been my drive. I always like to give back to my community,” he told our reporter
“My message has always been clear since my campaign began and was among the reasons why people decided to vote for me. We have always been consistent throughout the campaign and that’s our plan is stamping out the covid-19 pandemic with a view to bring back our economy. We were also sending a strong message that black lives matter, access to health care among others. The campaign throughout was well coordinated and coupled with my track record for the past years working for the city, hence people overwhelmingly vote for me.”
“I have a strong relationship with the people of my city and I got support from the former mayor. As I said earlier my priorities will be to make sure that there’s access to health care for all people and open new jobs for my people and how we can bring back jobs that are affected as a result of the pandemic. I will also be looking at systematic injustice and I will make sure that the justice system is reformed and making sure that education is funded and it’s invested heavily.”
“I want people to have access to health care and the public schools are funded and there’s job training. I will be looking at how to revise the small business especially those that are currently struggling as a result of the pandemic.”
