Muslim Americans in Texas seek greater political influence ahead of US midterm elections

WASHINGTON: Mosques in Houston are doubling as voter registration centres ahead of the Nov 3 midterms , and local Muslim leaders say they are helping sign up around 1,000 voters a week. The drive in Texas’s metropolis follows the Republican-majority State Board of Education’s approval of a new social studies curriculum that Muslim advocates say portrays Islam unfairly. The contentious high school curriculum, for instance, requires students to learn that “radical Islam” motivated the 9/11 attacks instead of focusing on the terrorist groups involved. But supporters of the new curriculum defend it as part of a broader emphasis on Western civilisation and the foundations of the United States and Texas. The dispute has become one example of a broader question facing Muslim Americans: can greater political organisation help them influence public policy and counter discrimination?

In the American political system, advocacy caucuses play a key role in influencing public policy and elections by mobilising voters around shared concerns. They register voters, educate communities, support candidates and lobby elected officials. Groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) illustrate how organised advocacy can shape political debate. For Muslim Americans, similar groups offer a way to pool electoral influence, engage candidates and press for attention to their concerns, particularly in closely contested races. Their concerns range from civil rights, immigration and the economy to US foreign policy, particularly its approach to the Middle East. Yet a growing political presence does not necessarily translate into electoral power, nor are Muslim Americans a unified voting bloc: their party affiliations, social views and policy priorities vary considerably. On…