Former Michigan state Rep. Rashida Tlaib has won the Democratic nomination to run unopposed for the House seat long held by former Rep. John Conyers, setting her up to become the first Muslim woman elected to Congress.
Slate producer Aymann Ismail writes that “Tuesday’s election results offer at least a glimmer of hope that the process can still work. Rashida Tlaib is now poised to make history by becoming not only America’s first female Muslim member of Congress, but also the first Arab-American Muslim… and Muslims in the U.S. and abroad are already celebrating her victory.”
In an email, Ms. Tlaib told the producer she believes her win “shows a lot of Muslim Americans that even with Trump in the White House and the Supreme Court telling us the Muslim Ban is legal, our voices are powerful, and reminds people that we belong in this country like everyone else.”
Ms. Tlaib said that identity didn’t play a central role to her campaign. “I’m proud of my faith and am raising my family to be proud of our identity. A lot of people expect that my race and religion was an issue in this campaign, but it really wasn’t. Voters on the doors don’t care that I’m Muslim, they just want to know that I’ll work hard for them and never sell them out.”
She added: “How I pray doesn’t matter to them.”
