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AMP Report – March 12, 2008
Second Muslim elected to the US Congress
American Muslim community is elated at the election of another Muslim to the US Congress. On March 11, Indiana voters elected Andre Carson to the Congress. He became the second Muslim chosen to in the U.S. history.
Andre Carson, grandson of the late Democrat Rep. Julia Carson, was elected to serve the balance of her term in the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election.
She died in December 2007, after serving 11 years in the heavily Democratic district. The younger Carson, 33, will serve out the remainder of his grandmother's term.
He beat Republican Jon Elrod and a third party candidate with 52 percent of the vote to 44 percent for Elrod.
Carson, whose grandmother raised him in a Baptist church, converted to Islam more than a decade ago and will join Rep. Keith Ellison, D- Minnesota, as the only Muslims in Congress. His religious identity has drawn little attention during the campaign, and Carson says he doesn't believe it hurts him politically.
Carson will face a strong challenge against other contenders in a May primary which will determine who runs in November for the next full two-year term in the district which covers most of the city of Indianapolis.
His Democratic opponents then are expected to be two state legislators -- Carolene Mays, an Indianapolis newspaper publisher, and David Orentlicher, a lawyer and doctor who is a professor of law and medical ethics at Indiana University School of Law and Indiana University Medical Center.
Carson, 33, received congratulatory phone calls from Democratic presidential contenders Senetors Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
One of his top priorities, he said, would be ending the war in Iraq. "We need to bring our men and women back home and end this useless war," Carson said in his victory speech. "This isn't about me. It's about you. I'm not going to Congress. We're going to Congress," said Carson.
Carson, who won his first election last year to the City-County Council, has described this win an "extremely humbling experience." Carson said his campaign had benefited from volunteers who crossed all age, racial, religious and social backgrounds.
Carson will represent the 7th District, which covers most of Indianapolis, for the remainder of the year. The district's voters will next select candidates for the November election to a full two-year term for the congressional seat.
If Carson wins on May 6, he may again face Elrod, who is a candidate in the GOP primary, along with two political unknowns.
Julia Carson, Carson's grandmother, a Democrat who first won election to Congress in 1996 and died in December, was the first black to represent Indianapolis in Congress — from a district that is nearly two-thirds white.
American Muslim Voice Executive Director, Samina Faheem Sundas, described the election of Carson as the nation's second Muslim member of Congress is a milestone for American pluralism.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in a message of congratulations to Carson, said his “election demonstrates the strength of our political system and the growing positive role of American Muslims in our society.”
CAIR Legislative Director Corey Saylor also noted that the political participation of American Muslims is increasing. Just this week, Muslims from around the nation held more than 70 Capitol Hill meetings with representatives and congressional staffers. Those meetings focused on issues such as racial profiling, citizenship delays and anti-hunger initiatives.
"At a time when anti-Muslim rhetoric is rising to disturbing levels, the election of Carson is proof of our nation's commitment to diversity and justice for all," said MPAC Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati. "The increasing interaction of Muslim communities with elected officials and candidates is a positive step in solving public policy issues."
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