POLITICS
The Muslim Vote Comes of Age Both political parties can benefit from courting the Muslim vote BY NAFEES ASGHAR
Nehls with his taskforce members (l-r) M. Nihad, Asim Nasir, Z. Gire, Saleema Gul, Troy Nehls, and Nafees Asghar
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Muslim American taskforce formed after a few community leaders in Texas District 22 found out that the Democratic nominee Sri Preston Kulkarni was being backed by U.S.-based supporters and financiers seemingly aligned to the Indian fascist RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), to support the Republican candidate, Troy Nehls. This led them to join Troy Nehls’ Muslim Task Force, comprised of young Muslim volunteers. The challenge they faced was massive: Emgage (https://emgageusa.org), which claims to represent Muslims, had endorsed the Democratic candidate in 2018, and the Democrats had registered many new voters. Moreover, they were doing their best conducting a massive campaign to tie Nehls to every one of Trump’s anti-Muslim statements made during his 2016 election campaign and as president, as well as the Muslim travel ban and the belief that a Blue “wave” was coming. As a result, Nehls aggressively reached out to Muslims and started visiting mosques. His task force’s dedicated members spent a lot of time on social media, phone banking and block walking to chip away at Kulkarni’s votes. Almost 80% of the district’s 25,000+ registered Muslims voted. A vast majority of them voted for Nehls, who won by around 29,000 votes. Interestingly, most of these Muslims had voted Democratic in 2018. According to Associated Press exit polls (Nov. 6, 2020) Trump’s support among 34 ISLAMIC HORIZONS MARCH/APRIL 2021
Muslim American appears to have increased: 35% for Trump and 64% for Biden. CAIR’s poll found that 17% of Muslims voted Republican, up by 4% from its 2016 poll (https://apnews.com/article/votecast-trump-wins-white-evangelicals-d0cb249ea7eae29187a21a702dc84706). There are several estimates of the Muslim American population; however, a realistic estimate indicates that there are over 7.5 million Muslims living in the U.S. Republicans realized the importance of this community’s vote when George W. Bush first ran for president in 2000, for the Muslim vote delivered Florida to him. But even though the Republican Party quickly realized the potential of this hidden vote, they decided to ignore it. Fast-forward 20 years, and this vote has multiplied many times over. For instance, in 2018, from Houston Beaumont alone, Muslim Americans raised about $4 million for Hillary Clinton. Muslim voters and their grassroots volunteers flipped Texas’ 7th Congressional
