{"id":44564,"date":"2016-10-26T11:06:44","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T16:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=44564"},"modified":"2016-10-26T14:22:25","modified_gmt":"2016-10-26T19:22:25","slug":"u-s-senate-race-is-milwaukee-muslims-hope-for-another-washington-ally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/u-s-senate-race-is-milwaukee-muslims-hope-for-another-washington-ally\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Senate race is Milwaukee Muslims\u2019 hope for another Washington ally"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Maryam Saleh<\/strong><\/p>\n

Milwaukee area Muslims\u2019 support for Hillary Clinton is \u201cunenthusiastic\u201d and \u201creluctant,\u201d largely stirred by Donald Trump\u2019s anti-Muslim rhetoric, say community members and leaders.<\/p>\n

But there is one candidate they emphatically stand behind: Democrat Russ Feingold.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cFeingold is a wonderful person, and Muslims owe to him for voting against the Patriot Act,\u201d said Mohammad Fareed, a 61-year-old Muslim physician who worships at the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, which operates three mosques in the Milwaukee, Wis., area.<\/p>\n

Overall, Muslim voters are expected to turn out overwhelmingly for the Democrats.<\/p>\n

Feingold, a former three-term U.S. Senator, is running against Republican incumbent Ron Johnson for Wisconsin\u2019s U.S. Senate seat.<\/p>\n

Most polls show Feingold with a consistent advantage over Johnson, and Muslims said the Democrat\u2019s voting record and history of standing by the Muslim community make him the obvious choice.<\/p>\n

Community leaders added that the estimated 15,000 Muslims in southeast Wisconsin are expected to repeat the Democratic preference they showed in the 2012 presidential election.<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Muslims\u2019 voting behavior is not an aberration. A 2011 Pew Research Center poll<\/a> found that seven in 10 Muslims in America either are self-described Democrats or say they lean Democratic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the Democratic Party, or a number of the candidates, are definitely concerned about the Muslims, and are concerned about the attacks against Muslims, and the attempts to malign Muslims or disenfranchise them,\u201d said Othman Atta, ISM operations manager, adding that Feingold is someone who has taken \u201cvery positive positions toward Muslims.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feingold, who was unseated by Johnson in 2010, was the only member of the U.S. Senate to vote against the U.S. Patriot Act, anti-terrorism legislation passed just weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The controversial law singled out Muslim and Arab communities for enhanced surveillance, according to civil rights advocates.<\/p>\n

As a U.S. Senator, Feingold called on then President George W. Bush<\/a> not to use the term \u201cIslamic fascists,\u201d saying it was offensive to Muslims, and he has been outspoken against Islamophobia<\/a> in recent years.<\/p>\n

While Johnson has split from Trump\u2019s proposed Muslim ban, he recently renewed his support<\/a> for his party\u2019s White House nominee during the senatorial candidates\u2019 Oct. 14 debate.<\/p>\n

He called for \u201cpositive engagement with Muslim communities\u201d<\/a> in a June interview with Green Bay talk radio host Jerry Bader, but he has made no attempt to engage Muslim voters, several community leaders said. His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Feingold, in contrast, has strived to build bridges with the Muslim community.<\/p>\n

Najeeb, who has been involved with the Democratic Party for years, said she agreed to host a fundraiser for Feingold after he met with about 20 community leaders early this year and answered questions on a number of issues, including Islamophobia, American foreign policy, and Guantanamo Bay.<\/p>\n

The community\u2019s policy priorities include civil rights, immigrants\u2019 rights, affordable healthcare and decreased American military involvement in the Middle East, she said. Although Milwaukee Muslims don\u2019t agree with Feingold on every issue, Najeeb said they feel that his positions largely align with their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t have a president or a senator that\u2019s really going to embody all of the ideals of the Muslim community,\u201d she added. \u201cThat\u2019s not going to happen, because that\u2019s not who these individuals are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feingold visited the Islamic Society of Milwaukee several times during his 2010 campaign against Johnson, and he spoke at an interfaith event at ISM\u2019s facility in Brookfield this summer, Milwaukee Muslims said.<\/p>\n

\"Brookfield
About 500 Muslims attend Friday services at ISM’s Brookfield, Wis., mosque, which was opened two years ago. Imam Noman Hussain often speaks about civic engagement from the pulpit. Oct. 21, 2016 (Maryam Saleh\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe values and the things he stood up for in the past are the things the Muslim community stands for,\u201d said Imam Noman Hussain, who leads the congregation at the Brookfield mosque, adding that Feingold spoke out against Islamophobia during his recent mosque visit.<\/p>\n

Political pundits predict that Johnson\u2019s Senate seat is one of the seats most likely to flip to the Democrats in the election. Democrats need to flip four or five seats to regain a Senate majority, which they lost in 2014. A Senate held by Democrats has broad implications, including the ability to fill the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy. (Senate Republicans have refused to consider President Obama\u2019s nominee to the high court.)<\/p>\n

Despite their ardent support for Feingold, Milwaukee-area Muslims are not much concerned with the greater significance of his victory, leaders said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s still not a lot of sophistication about the process and the long-term effects of some of these types of things,\u201d in Milwaukee\u2019s \u201cyoung\u201d Muslim community, Najeeb said, adding that she and others deeply involved in the electoral process are cognizant of the importance of a Democratically held Senate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we need to focus on is educating our communities so that our upcoming generation \u2013 those who were born here and raised here \u2013 are more knowledgeable about politics, that they continue to be involved in politics, so that we can really have that block of people that are engaged and see the big picture,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: An imam makes an announcement after evening prayers at the Islamic Society of Milwaukee in Milwaukee, Wis., on Oct. 21, 2016. (Maryam Saleh\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Maryam Saleh Milwaukee area Muslims\u2019 support for Hillary Clinton is \u201cunenthusiastic\u201d and \u201creluctant,\u201d largely stirred by Donald Trump\u2019s anti-Muslim rhetoric, say community members and leaders. But there is one candidate they emphatically stand behind: Democrat Russ Feingold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":295,"featured_media":44570,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2941,2951],"tags":[3146,3165,3164,3163,3145,3147],"class_list":["post-44564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2016","category-politicsnational-security","tag-democrats-in-wisconsin","tag-islamic-society-of-milwaukee","tag-muslim-voters-in-milwaukee","tag-muslim-voters-in-wisconsin","tag-russ-feingold","tag-u-s-ron-johnson"],"yoast_head":"\nU.S. Senate race is Milwaukee Muslims\u2019 hope for another Washington ally - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/u-s-senate-race-is-milwaukee-muslims-hope-for-another-washington-ally\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"U.S. Senate race is Milwaukee Muslims\u2019 hope for another Washington ally - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Maryam Saleh Milwaukee area Muslims\u2019 support for Hillary Clinton is \u201cunenthusiastic\u201d and \u201creluctant,\u201d largely stirred by Donald Trump\u2019s anti-Muslim rhetoric, say community members and leaders. 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