More Muslim candidates seek office as ‘Mamdani effect’ takes hold

A growing number of Muslim candidates are seeking office following Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s (D) stunning success in New York City this year.

Last week, an Arab and Muslim American co-founder of the “Uncommitted” movement, which urged Democrats to cast 2024 protest votes over the Israel-Hamas war, launched a bid for state office in Michigan. And this week, the first Muslim woman to win elected office in North Carolina jumped into the race to represent her state in Congress. They join Abdul El-Sayed, who has been vying for Michigan’s open Senate seat, as the most high-profile Muslim candidates running next year.

Their bids come after Mamdani, a democratic socialist, was elected the first Muslim mayor of New York City in November. That same night, Virginia voted to make progressive lieutenant governor candidate Ghazala Hashmi the first Muslim woman elected to statewide office. 

“We have the Mamdani effect, which now is exciting a lot more folks to think about running for office,” said Basim Elkarra, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Action, which aims to engage the American Muslim community in elections up and down the ballot. 

“Because here’s someone who is not shy of his identity, and also has become one of the most popular elected officials in the country,” Elkara said, adding that “more Muslims that are interested in running for office realize that their identity is not a liability.”

More than three dozen of 76 Muslim candidates tracked by CAIR and CAIR Action saw victories across the country during last month’s off-year elections. The group reported a staggering 97 percent of New York City’s Muslim voters backed Mamdani, and 95 percent in Virginia backed Hashmi. Mamdani’s win has already prompted a surge of young people and progressives interested in running for office, according to the political organization Run for Something.

“I think next year is a big test for the American Muslim community, and I think … both parties will be paying attention,” Elkara said, pointing to both up-and-coming candidates and the potential for boosted voter turnout from the demographic. 

Muslim Americans, a diverse group that makes up slightly more than 1 percent of the national electorate, have long leaned toward the left, but the Democratic advantage has “shrunk considerably” in recent years, according to Pew Research.

Fueled in part by anger over the Biden administration’s handling of the war in Gaza, the bloc had a powerful impact on President Trump’s victory in 2024. For one, Trump flipped Michigan — one of the states with the highest concentration of Muslim Americans and where the Uncommitted push kicked off — winning that critical part of the Democrats’ blue wall by a little more than 1 point.

“Especially when it comes to the Arab Muslim community in Michigan, a very particular Rorschach test that the broader world has come to see [is] Democrats’ hypocrisy about values when it comes to genocide in Gaza,” El-Sayed, who launched his campaign for the Senate back in April, told The Hill. 

“If you can’t call the genocide a genocide, don’t tell me you’re going to stand up to Donald Trump. … I think that that comes to the fore for the Arab Muslim community.”

As he campaigns across the Great Lakes State, El-Sayed stressed that sentiment isn’t resonating solely among Muslims or in places such as Dearborn, the first Arab-majority city in the U.S. 

“This is an issue that is well bigger than just a few smaller ethnic enclaves. It is about where we spend our tax dollars generally, and that is foundational when it comes to the responsibility of a legislator,” he said. 

A former Wayne County health director, El-Sayed was the runner-up to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) in the 2018 Democratic primary, boasting significant progressive backing. He has the support of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and others for his 2026 race.

Down the ballot in Michigan, Uncommitted co-founder Abbas Alawieh is running to represent Dearborn and Dearborn Heights in the state Senate. 

The Uncommitted movement, led by Arab and Muslim Americans opposed to U.S. support for Israel’s war on Gaza, led to more than 13 percent of Michigan voters casting protest ballots during the Democratic primary last year, and Democrats in other states replicated the rebuke. 

“I think the Mamdani win has changed everything,” said Alawieh, who previously worked for Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and former Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), both members of the “squad” of House progressives. 

“The reason the Mamdani campaign succeeded wasn’t because he’s Muslim American, it was because he galvanized a multiracial movement of people who want a better future for our families, and I think that there’s a lot to be learned from that,” he said. 

In North Carolina, Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam (D) launched a primary challenge this week against Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-N.C.), an effort backed by Sanders and others. 

Allam made history in the Tar Heel State in 2020, when she became the first Muslim woman to win an elected office in the state. 

“When we first immigrated in 1999, it would be ludicrous to think that we would have a Muslim mayor of the city of New York, an immigrant as the mayor of New York, or even have me [as] the first Muslim woman elected to office in North Carolina. It took until 2020 to even have that, to break that barrier,” Allam said. “So [I] see how far we’ve come, not just in representation, but also just our community’s ability and our willingness to come out.”

The first two Muslim congresswomen were elected in 2018, and a record number of Muslims were elected to office during the 2022 midterms. 

Now, Mamdani’s recent win has helped to “reenergize” momentum for Muslim Americans and progressives alike, said Wa’el Alzayat, the CEO of Emgage, which works to educate and rally Muslim voters to be civically active. Its political arm, Emgage Action, endorsed Mamdani and Hashmi, among others, in this fall’s races. 

“New York City is going to be a lot more inclusive from other parts of the country. That’s just the way it is. But even in the heartland, or in conservative parts of the country, I think the messaging, the stance on issues, and the persona of the candidates can and certainly has overcome,” Alzayat told The Hill.

And these candidates are getting in the ring even as they face a hostile environment of threats and stereotypes along the campaign trail and beyond. 

Mamdani, for example, faced derogatory attacks against his religion and identity from high-profile voices as he ran in New York City. Alawieh said he’s seen a deluge of hateful comments in just the first week of his campaign. 

“I think for all of us Arab and Muslim American candidates who are doing this not to serve just the Arab or Muslim community, but to serve everyone in our communities like they’re family to us, I think the best way to push through this is … outwork the hate,” the state Senate hopeful said. 

In recent weeks, the Republican governors of both Florida and Texas designated CAIR a terrorist organization. The organization called the move an “Israel First stunt” and said it would sue.

“There’s a permission structure to denigrate and insult Muslims for their religious identity, or for their immigrant background, if they happen to be,” Alzayat said. 

“It’s not going to disappear, but what we hope is that it just becomes a losing political formula, where it’s just not going to work and, in fact, it could backfire.”