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November 10, 2006
American Muslims in 2006 elections
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
The seven-million-strong American Muslim community got a big political push when the Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison was elected as the nation's first Muslim member to the US Congress in November 7, 2006 elections. Ellison's election was accompanied by a massive turnout of the American Muslim voters to make their voices heard.
"Tonight, we made history," Mr Ellison said in a victory speech to supporters. "We won a key election, but we did much more than that. We showed that a candidate can run a 100% positive campaign and prevail, even against tough opposition."
Throughout his campaign Ellison, a criminal defense attorney who converted to Islam as a college student, focused on issues that resonate in his electoral District in Minneapolis. Ellison won 56 percent of the vote, defeating Republican Alan Fine and the Independence Party's Tammy Lee, both of whom garnered 21 percent of the vote.
Another Muslim, Ahmad Hassan, failed in his congressional bid on Republican ticket. In Texas District 18, Ahmad Hassan, an Egyptian American, lost to Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee who was re-elected with a massive 80 percent of the vote.
Before Ellison’s election to the House, Larry Shaw, a Democrat State Senator of North Carolina, was the highest Muslim elected official in the United States. Larry Shaw, a corporate executive, was re-elected to the State senate on November 7.
It is not clear how many Muslim Americans contested in the 2006 elections but there are fragmented reports that dozens were candidate for various offices from US Congress, State Senate and assemblies to local bodies.
In New Hampshire, Saghir “Saggy” Tahir was re-elected for a third term of the State House of Representatives in Nov. 7 elections.
The number of Muslim candidates for various offices across the nation hit an all-time high of about 700 in 2000 but then declined dramatically, to about 70 in 2002 and about 100 in 2004, according to the American Muslim Alliance, a national organization.
In 2002, Maad Abu-Ghazalah, an Arab-American and Syed Rifat Mahmood, a Pakistani-American, made unsuccessful congressional bids from California. In 2004, Ferial Masry, a Saudi-born woman lost her bid for congress in California while, Maad Abu-Ghazalah also made another abortive bid.
The midterm elections witnessed an intensive voter registration and get-out-to-vote campaigns by the American Muslim groups. Consequently, in key elections throughout the country, candidates were beginning to realize the impact of the Muslim electorate which is the result of the increasing interaction of Muslim communities with elected officials and candidates.
The Muslim community demonstrated its importance in this election particularly in the states where it has large concentration of population. In states like Virginia which has substantial concentration of Muslim population, the Muslim vote became the critical vote in tipping the balance on control of the US Senate. In Virginia Incumbent senator George Allen was defeated by his Democratic opponent, Jim Webb, giving Democrats control of the Senate with 51-members.
There are approximately 60,000 Muslim voters in Virginia, with 85% of them living in Northern Virginia. According to the Muslim American Society Center for Electoral Empowerment Director (MASCEE) Mukit Hossain, it is estimated that 47,700 Muslims voted for Jim Webb, which positively contributed to his narrow victory over Senator George Allen. The MASCEE also helped support a larger Muslim voter turnout in Virginia by recruiting 230 volunteers for some 200 election sites.
An informal poll of Muslim voters, conducted by the New Jersey Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-NJ), indicated that the vast majority in that state voted for Democrats in the mid-term elections. There are at least 18,000 registered Muslim voters in the state of New Jersey.
CAIR-NJ contacted 100 Muslim voters from various districts to ask how they had voted. Of 100 Muslim voters contacted, 77 said they had voted for the Democratic Party candidates. This result was in line with a recent CAIR poll of Muslim voters nationwide indicating that American Muslims lean toward the Democratic Party.
An informal poll of Muslim voters, conducted by the CAIR Columbus office indicated that the overwhelming majority of Muslim voters in that state voted for Democrats in the mid-term elections.
Seventy-five Muslim voters from Ohio responded to a post-election survey. More than 90 percent of the respondents said they had voted for Democratic Party candidates.
A pre-election CAIR survey revealed that 42 percent Muslim voters consider themselves members of the Democratic Party while only 17 per cent are Republican. Another 28 percent do not belong to any party.
The survey also pointed out that 49 percent of the registered voters in the survey said that they voted regularly. Previous surveys also indicate that the American Muslim community has the highest turnout of voters in elections.
Similarly, another poll by the Arab American Institute (AAI) pointed out that strong majorities of Arab-American voters in four key states — Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida — intend to vote for the Democratic candidates for senate. It may be pointed out that about 40 percent of the 3.5 million-strong American Arab community is Muslim and the rest is Christian. Like Muslim Americans, Arab Christians have also been complaining of discrimination in the post-9/11 era.
Arab American Institute said 2006 historic elections will have a significant impact on the Arab American community. Eighty-two percent of the candidates supported by the state and local Arab American community leaders in fifteen states were victorious. Of the 39 Arab American candidates vying in the election, 24 won their races.
The Muslim groups had launched a vote registration campaign and also get-out-to-vote campaign. They particularly targeted 12 states with a high concentration of Muslim population: California, 20 percent; Illinois, 8.9 percent; New York, 8.6 percent; Texas, 7 percent; New Jersey, 6.8 percent; Michigan, 6.7 percent; Florida, 6.4 percent; Virginia, 6.3 percent; Maryland, 3.1 percent; Ohio, 3 percent; Pennsylvania, 2.9 percent; and Minnesota, 2.8 percent.
The Muslim American Society, which had set up voter registration booths in mosques across the country, has added 30,000 new voters to the rolls just weeks before the election.
In Illinois, another state with a heavy concentration of Muslims, the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago had been working to register more of the area's approximately 400,000 Muslims to vote.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) held four Election Forums in Virginia, Kansas and California, providing an opportunity for more than a dozen candidates to meet with the American Muslim community to share their perspectives on pressing current issues.
In several states the American Muslim Alliance (AMA) issued an election advisory suggesting its preference for the candidates who supported the Muslims on the issue of civil rights which remains the top Muslim concern in elections since 2000.
Interestingly, an important impact of Muslim political activism was that the candidates who were vocal supporters of profiling the Muslims and Arabs lost elections in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Republican candidate for Illinois' 17th Congressional District Andrea Zinga said: "Profiling doesn't bother me if we are profiling the people who. . .have caused the outrages against our nation and caused the deaths of American citizens. . .We're talking about Mideastern men."
In Pennsylvania, Sen. Rick Santorum lost his seat in the Senate after targeting so-called "Islamic fascism" during his campaign. Santorum even linked the Islamic concept of Jihad to Nazism when he said: "Mein Kampf means struggle; jihad means struggle."
In Wisconsin, 3rd Congressional District GOP candidate Paul Nelson suggested looking for anyone who is "wearing a turban and his name is Muhammad" when he was questioned about his call for profiling of Muslims.
And in Florida, both gubernatorial candidates repudiated anti-Muslim remarks made by supporters during the campaign.
While it is unclear if Muslim American voters have the numbers to tip any tight elections, many political observers believe that they have achieved unprecedented levels of political organization and electoral enthusiasm.
At least two million Muslims are registered voters. A 2001 poll by Zogby International found that 79 percent of the country's Muslims are registered to vote.
Keith Ellison's victory and the rise of Muslim participation in politics are success stories not only for the Muslims but for our nation. However, it is imperative for Muslims to continue and develop the path for civic engagement.
What matters for the American Muslims is going out to vote and getting their voices heard.
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