Montco voters make history electing new board of commissioners
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- On Tuesday, Voters elected the first Asian person and first Black woman to the board of commissioners.
"And what a journey it's been," said Jamila Winder.
In February, she was temporarily appointed to her seat on the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. Tuesday night, she became the first Black woman to win an election for a full term in that spot.
"I feel blessed to have had the appointment," Winder said. "But now, I've gotten out, talked to voters, and I've actually won their confidence to lead this great county."
She knows the county well.
"I've lived in Montgomery County for the better part of four decades," she said.
Winder said she wants every family to have a safe place to call home. However, she knows that is just not the case right now. She wants to work with local leaders to end what she calls a stigma against homelessness and the need for affordable housing.
"If every municipality in Montgomery County played a role in either putting up an affordable housing complex or opening a code blue shelter, or a homeless shelter -- we'd be in a much better place," Winder said.
She planned to work with Neil Makhija, who was also elected to the board. He will be the first person of Asian-American Pacific Islander descent to help lead Montgomery County.
"My family immigrated here from India," he said. "My grandparents were originally refugees in the Partition of India when it was split between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh."
That story of survival fuels his passion for election access for everyone.
Makhija is also an election law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. The Montgomery County Voter Services Department works with the state to offer instructions in several languages. However, Makhija said as a commissioner who will help oversee the department, he wanted to do more.
"Making sure that we provide access to voter materials in all different languages," he said.
Makhija and Winder said they plan to bring their lived experiences to the job to help others.
"This moment together means the world to us and so many that look like us," Winder said.
Makhija and Winder will be sworn in for their new terms on January 2, 2024.