First Muslim woman poised to be elected to US Congress
Lacklustre showings by GOP candidates in local polls revive debate if Trump should stay away from key races
Rashida Tlaib’s opposition to President Donald Trump began while he was still candidate Trump and before she decided to run for Congress.
The 42-year-old attorney, who is set to become the first Muslim woman elected to Congress, was booted from a 2016 Trump campaign speech in Detroit for heckling the polarising Republican.
After winning Tuesday’s Democratic primary to run unopposed for the House seat that Rep. John Conyers held for more than five decades before retiring amid sexual harassment allegations, Tlaib, the eldest of 14 children born to Palestinian immigrants, vowed to take the fight to Trump once she’s in Washington.
“I will uplift you in so many ways,” she told her cheering supporters early Wednesday. “Not only through service, but fighting back against every single oppressive, racist structure that needs to be dismantled, because you deserve better than what we have today in our country.”
She also challenged Trump, calling him a “bully” and adding: “I don’t know if he’s ready for me.”
“You think of the hope and possibilities about being in America — he doesn’t really believe in that,” Tlaib told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “He believes there are winners and losers. (That’s) dangerous and very divisive.”
Meanwhile, a new round of lacklustre showings by Republican candidates has reignited a debate within the GOP over whether Trump will be a drag on the party’s chances in November and should stay out of some of the country’s most hotly-contested races.
Inside the White House, Trump aides are mapping out plans for the autumn that would offer a variety of options to Republican candidates, be it a visit from the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, to a blue state or a presidential tweet for a red-state ally.
But mounting apprehension about Trump’s political capital lingered in Washington and on the campaign trail.
I will uplift you in so many ways. Not only through service, but fighting back against every single oppressive, racist structure that needs to be dismantled...’’
Rashida Tlaib
By the time Rashida Tlaib was finished, not a dry eye remained in the room.
“I want people across the country to know that you don’t need to sell out,” Tlaib said early Wednesday morning. “You don’t have to change who you are to run for office — and that is what this country is about.”
Tlaib is poised to become the first Muslim woman elected to Congress after she narrowly defeated Brenda Jones, Detroit’s City Council president, in a Democratic primary race to succeed longtime Rep. John Conyers Jr, a Democrat, in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. She will run unopposed in November. In a separate Democratic primary contest for a special election to serve the remaining months of Conyers’ term, Jones prevailed over Tlaib on Wednesday afternoon, according to The Associated Press.
Tlaib, a former Michigan state legislator, Detroit native and daughter of Palestinian immigrants, was so cautious about celebrating her victory that she waited until every vote was counted — and long after AP had called the race in her favour — to begin her celebrations at almost 3am. That meant the crowd had thinned significantly from the dozens who attended her earlier results watch party, but those who stayed until the early morning saw a special sight: a room of largely Arab-American immigrants emotionally celebrating an American democracy that has, in their view, been hostile to their existence and identity.
“A lot of my strength comes from being Palestinian,” she said at one point.
Tlaib’s mother draped her in the Palestinian flag as she spoke.
“I will fight back against every racist and oppressive structure that needs to be dismantled,” Tlaib said. “You deserve better than what we have today with our president.”
The eldest child of 14, Tlaib campaigns with a raw energy rarely seen by candidates across either party. More than any singular policy position, her calling card is the no-holds-barred way in which she has engaged voters from traditionally marginalised backgrounds — calling voter interactions her “comfort zone,” where she feels most free to rail against “corporate PAC money” and the uselessness of traditional representatives.
“I’m going to push back against everything that’s so un-American that’s coming out of this administration,” Tlaib promised the audience. “My grandmother told me never to let a bully tell me, “can I do this?” or “you can’t do this.”
Defending Detroit’s poor
As a state lawmaker, Tlaib sought to defend Detroit’s poor, taking on refineries and a billionaire trucking magnate who she accused of polluting city neighborhoods. On the campaign trail, she criticised the influence of “big money” on politics.
“This is a huge victory for the Arab and Muslim American communities - it’s also a huge victory for the city of Detroit,” said Sally Howell, the director of the Center for Arab American Studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. “Rashida Tlaib brings forward the legacy of John Conyers in terms of the
groundbreaking role he played in Congress and his commitment to civil rights.”
Mixed results for voters
Tlaib’s win rounded off what was a mixed evening for many Muslim voters in Detroit and Michigan. Abdul Al Sayed — the former Detroit health director who was supported by Senator Bernie Sanders, and the New York congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — lost heavily in the Democratic primary race for governor, which was won by the establishment favourite, Gretchen Whitmer.
More than 90 Muslims — mostly Democrats — have entered races for local, state or national public office, according to Jetpac, a non-profit that advocates civic engagement across the country. With Tlaib, the group has now notched its most high-profile victory, which comes complete with a stunning visual: sending a Muslim woman who in 2016 heckled Donald Trump during a speech in Detroit to the floor of the House of Representatives.
“I won!” Tlaib exclaimed at one point, seemingly in disbelief. She soon, however, corrected herself. “We won,” she said.
Anew round of lacklustre showings by Republican candidates reignited a debate on Wednesday within the GOP over whether the US President Donald Trump will be a drag on the party’s chances in November and should stay out of some of the country’s most hotly-contested races.
Inside the White House, Trump aides are mapping out plans for the fall that would offer a variety of options to Republican candidates, be it a visit from the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, to a blue state or a presidential tweet for a red-state ally.
But mounting apprehension about Trump’s political capital lingered in Washington and on the campaign trail.
In a flurry of elections on Tuesday — from the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, to the technology corridor in Washington state — Democrats turned out in droves and significantly overperformed expectations by posing serious challenges to Republicans in staunchly GOP districts.
Many Republican strategists viewed the results as a dark omen three months ahead of Election Day, saying they illustrate the limits of Trump’s ability to boost candidates, particularly in suburban areas where Trump’s popularity has suffered. Even in Republican primaries, securing Trump’s endorsement was not a guarantee of electoral success.
“Nothing bodes well,” said veteran Republican consultant Stuart Stevens, a frequent Trump critic. “You look at the amount of money spent on the Republican side in Ohio, the focus put on it,” including a Trump rally last weekend in the district, “and you have an early warning sign. It’s time for Republicans to counteract.”
Trump took a different lesson from the outcomes, crowing in a series of tweets that his presence on the campaign trail and his record could lift his party and prompt a “giant Red Wave!”
“As long as I campaign and/ or support Senate and House candidates (within reason), they will win!” Trump wrote.
Barely ahead
Despite Trump’s last-minute visit and Republicans dramatically outspending Democrats, Ohio Republican state Sen. Troy Balderson was barely ahead of Democrat Danny O’Connor, an elected county recorder, in Tuesday’s special congressional election in central Ohio. The race remained too close to call Wednesday.
The razor-thin margin comes in a district that Trump won by 11 points in 2016 and that Republicans have held since 1983. Balderson had embraced Trump in the campaign’s final stretch.
Democrats need 23 additional seats to take over the House majority and two seats to take control of the Senate.