Candidate will be bridge to Muslims in US

MINNEAPOLIS - Memories of 9/11 are still bitter, and President George W. Bush's war against Islamo-fascism is in full swing.

But a historic new bridge between America and its Muslims is about to be built. Barring a stunning upset, Keith Ellison will next year become the first Muslim member of Congress.

First, of course, Ellison has to win the November 7 election to claim his seat. But after his hard-fought yet convincing win in Wednesday's Democratic primary here, this is almost a foregone conclusion. Minnesota's 5th District, covering the thoroughly liberal metropolis of Minneapolis, is one of the party's safest seats in the House of Representatives.

Its loss would be the equivalent of Britain's Labour Party being defeated in the mining valleys of Wales.

In the primary Ellison, a 43-year-old black lawyer and member of the state legislature, saw off the challenges of two eminently qualified rivals, the chief of staff of the former long-serving Democrat congressman for the district, and a female state senator supported by America's most influential women's groups.

The general election pits him against a Republican, an independent and a Green candidate, but none are expected to run him close.

Across the country, there were a host of significant results this week on the last big batch of primaries before the mid-term elections, in which Democrats are hoping to capture control of the House, and - if all goes perfectly for them - the Senate as well.

In perhaps the most closely watched contest, Senator Lincoln Chafee, the ultra-moderate Republican incumbent from Rhode Island, defeated an insurgency by an "unelectable" conservative - thus preserving his party's chances of hanging on to a seat that the Democrats have high hopes of winning in eight weeks time.

In New York state, Hillary Clinton scored a crushing victory in her Senate primary against an anti-Iraq war candidate (see sidebar), while Elliott Spitzer steamrollered his opponents for the Democratic nomination for governor.

In Washington DC, the 35-year old firebrand Adrian Fenty won the Democratic mayoral primary, tantamount to the general election in the overwhelmingly Democratic capital. But none are a potential landmark to match the victory of Ellison.

You would not guess it to listen to him. Ellison, who converted to Islam as a 19-year-old student, prays five times a day. But he rarely mentions his faith when campaigning. Instead he described himself as "the proven progressive in the race".

He may be a Muslim, "but I'm not running as a Muslim candidate".

Instead, assuming he is elected in November, Mr Ellison will become the new bearer of a distinctive Minnesotan liberal torch, once carried by the former Democratic vice-presidents Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale, and the late and much loved Senator Paul Wellstone, killed in a plane accident on the eve of the 2002 midterm vote.

The Wellstone imprint on the Ellison campaign has been unmistakable - from the campaign colour of green to many of Wellstone's signature policies.

On Tuesday, hours before polling stations opened, Ellison visited the former senator's grave as if to draw inspiration for the next day's battle.

Like Wellstone, the congressman-in-waiting vehemently opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He advocates a state-backed universal health care for Americans, and a big increase in the minimum wage.

The Muslim side to him is obvious only when he visits a mosque. What counts is what he hopes to achieve in Washington, DC.

"We will long remember this moment and this night," the exhilarated victor declared at his election night headquarters at the Blue Nile restaurant in downtown Minneapolis. "This was when all of God's children, all religions and all colours came together around a common agenda."

But for a spell, it wasn't so easy. This was a rollercoaster of a primary campaign. Endorsement in May by the state's Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) organisation - as the Democratic party is known in Minnesota - seemed to guarantee Ellison a smooth takeover of the seat held by the popular and influential Martin Sabo for 28 years.

But the heir apparent was swiftly confronted by a string of embarrassments - some unearthed by a Republican blog, MinnesotaDemocratsExposed.com.

The revelations ranged from links with Louis Farrakhan, the controversial leader of Nation of Islam, and allegations of anti-Semitism, to the disclosure Ellison had had his driving licence suspended this year over some unpaid parking tickets, and that he had been late on tax payments in the 1990s.

The candidate however repudiated Farrakhan, flatly denied he had ever been anti-Semitic or racist, and then won over leaders of the local Jewish community (many of whom had been keen Wellstone backers).

This month Ellison received a crucial endorsement from the American Jewish World, Minnesota's Jewish magazine. The parking tickets, meanwhile, have been settled and the back taxes paid. Most important, voters have forgiven him.

Statistically speaking, a Muslim member of Congress is long overdue. Muslims number between two and six million in the US, up to 2 per cent of the total population.

Not one, however, has served in the 435-seat House of Representatives or 100-member Senate.

Though the US census does not collect data on religious affiliation, Muslims here appear to be mainly split between South Asians, Arab-Americans and blacks, based on mosque attendance surveys. But with the notable exception of the polarising Farrakhan, few famous Muslim Americans have been politicians. Among the most visible is the diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad, US Ambassador in Baghdad.


Man of faith

* Keith Ellison is a 43-year-old black lawyer, Democrat and member of the state legislature.
* He converted to Islam as a 19-year-old student.
* In the November election, Ellison must defeat Republican Alan Fine to become the first Muslim member of Congress.
* Muslims constitute up to 2 per cent of the US population.

- INDEPENDENT