AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): According to CAIR, at least 112 American Muslims have won in the 2026 midterm elections at the federal, state, and local levels.
These individuals emerged from among 168 American-Muslim candidates who were able to pass the primary stage of intra-party elections to gain nomination.
According to reports received, seven American Muslims will go to Washington, D.C.
Six of them, including Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, André Carson, and Latifa Simon, who are current representatives, will go to the House of Representatives. Also, Adam Hamawy, Aisha Wahab, and Darializa Avila Chevalier will join them as new figures.
Abdulrahman El-Sayed will also go to the Senate as the first Muslim and will be the first person to serve a six-year term in the upper chamber.
These victories constitute an absolute record and occur while, according to groups such as the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Center for the Study of Organized Hate, and the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, anti-Islamic sentiments and rhetoric, especially among Republicans, are at their highest level in a generation.
This comes as Muslims make up only one percent of the US population, that is, about 5.5 million people. But they face a huge volume of media scrutiny and online attacks.
The Muslim Public Affairs Council had warned before the elections that voter intimidation tactics might also prevent American Muslim voters from going to the polls.
But Muslim voter registration has increased by at least 25 percent over the past year, and at least one survey shows that 93 percent of them have turned out at the polls.
An NBC News survey shows that among all religious groups, Muslims were the ones who gave the most votes to the Democrats.
For comparison, in 2024, more than 20 percent of American Muslims had voted for Donald Trump because he had promised to end all wars and increase purchasing power.
Ali Orum, the communications director of the Georgia nonpartisan voters project, says in this regard, "We see that Muslims vote more based on policy than party lines, so many of them actually consider themselves independent rather than affiliated with the Democratic Party or the Republican Party."
Ali said, "The state of Georgia this year broke records in early voting in the midterm elections; in such a way that the highest rate of participation in early voting in a midterm election was recorded."
In this election cycle, about 30,000 Muslims voted early. For comparison, in 2022, the total Muslim votes, including election-day votes, were only 36,000.
The impact of Islamophobia on the Muslim vote
All these developments come as, over the past month, numerous incidents against Muslims have occurred across America; from vandalism and writing insulting slogans on various buildings in California to threats to shoot at veiled women in Illinois and even a shooting at a mosque in California that led to the killing of a guard.
This shooting at the mosque occurred shortly after the Muslim Public Affairs Council published a 36-page report titled "Building the Muslim Threat."
This report reveals that elected Republican officials in 2025 organized a coordinated campaign against Muslims that included 1,111 social media posts, eight legislative bills, and the formation of a 62-member caucus in Congress; actions that match the criteria of speech that likely incites violence.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations survey showed that Islamophobia has been a key factor in the mobilization of American Muslims in the current election cycle; in such a way that 70 percent of them stated that anti-Islamic sentiments were a motivation for their participation in voting.
The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, which has compiled the "National Islamophobia Index in America," in its latest findings related to 2025 points to the continuous increase of such sentiments.
According to this report, on a scale of 0 to 100, this index has risen from 25 in 2022 to 33 in 2025.
However, these events have not been able to achieve the intended goal of their perpetrators, which is to create fear among Muslims and keep them away from the arena.
Samira Monshi, who was the only Muslim woman present on the "Advisory Board of Non-Clerical Leaders" at the Trump administration's "Commission on Religious Freedom" but resigned in March in protest of the existing conditions, told the Middle East Eye website that demographic changes among American Muslims have made this generation bolder and more tenacious.
She says, "I basically belong to 'Generation Z'; therefore, I do not have a complete understanding of the consequences of the events of September 11 and the conditions of that era. I think our generation, which grew up aware of those events, has not felt the kind of despair and hopelessness that many adult Muslims or those who had the right to vote at that time experienced, and I think this very issue has caused this generation to turn to more serious political participation."
The impact of the Palestine and Gaza issue on the Muslim vote
Monshi emphasized that the way the pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian discourse and laws have been challenged in popular culture over the past three years has also encouraged American Muslims to take a more decisive stance.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations survey showed that 76 percent of voters considered the Gaza issue and the human rights of Palestinians among their most important concerns.
Also, 80 percent specifically stated that the Zionist regime's attack on Gaza, an action that the United Nations and Holocaust researchers call "genocide," had a major impact on their vote.
Monshi said, "We see on our social media platforms that well-known figures such as Tucker Carlson have changed their position."
"All those Democrats affiliated with the ruling establishment are gradually giving way to progressive forces that support Palestine and strongly oppose the Zionist regime."
Identity politics
According to surveys conducted by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, although American Muslims, especially, consider "Islamophobia" and the Palestine issue among the central issues at election time, like the vast majority, they have mainly cast their votes based on economic issues and job creation.
Ahmed Madi, the head of the nonpartisan organization "American Muslims in Public Service," in a written statement provided to the Middle East Eye website, said, "I am very proud to see the increase in the number of American Muslims entering the arena of public service and leadership positions across our country."
He added, "Observing the growing presence of members of our community in elected positions and civil institutions is both inspiring and meaningful."
Madi said, "These victories are the result of years of social activity, perseverance, hard work, and the increasing participation of American Muslims in shaping the future of our communities and our country. These successes remind us that our voice matters, our participation matters, and we have an influential and meaningful role in the decisions that shape our lives."
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