Lawmakers decry anti-Muslim campaign mailers, call for positivity, vigilance

A divisive political mailer criticizing some Texas House Republicans over their support for honorary recognitions of the state's Muslim community has drawn both condemnation from lawmakers and calls for unity and vigilance amid the extremist rhetoric.

The anti-Muslim mailers, targeting dozens of Republican incumbents seeking reelection and drawing rebukes from both sides of the political aisle, ask voters to elect GOP challengers during the March 5 primary after lawmakers took ceremonial votes during last year's legislative session that celebrated Muslim holidays in the Capitol, such as Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.

The political advertisements, which warn against the introduction of "Sharia law in Texas," referring to religious laws derived from Islamic scriptures, have been chastised as an affront to religious freedom and painted as a disingenuous effort to propagate Islamophobia.

"Showing respect to other religions, this is what American value is, right?" said Rep. Suleman Lalani, D-Sugar Land. "Islamophobia or hateful speech will not win over Texas."

Lalani and Rep. Salman Bhojani, D-Euless, were elected to the Texas House in 2022 as its first Muslim members.

"These are the things that they're doing to try to divide," Lalani said. "Even though they are trying to attack their own colleagues in the GOP, I think this is the attack on us and hate towards the Muslims that they're showing."

Lalani and Bhojani, with broad bipartisan approval in the lower chamber, passed resolutions last year to host the annual Texas Muslim Capitol Day and celebrate Ramadan, a holiday during which "Muslims affirm their commitment to working toward the collective good of society and the well-being of people from all walks of life," stated the resolution.

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Additionally, members from both parties participated in the Capitol's first Iftar, the fast-breaking evening meal shared over the course of Ramadan — the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which is dedicated to fasting, prayer and reflection. Observers fast from sunrise to sunset.

Lalani expressed gratitude for the experience, which was marked by lawmakers of varying religious and political backgrounds coming together to reflect on their similarities.

"That's where the personal touch and friendship has come along," Lalani said. "And I was very happy that I had the trust of our colleagues, and they supported me in doing various resolutions."

The political mailer, however, sent by the Texas Family Project, a conservative political organization, highlighted the event and subsequent recognitions as an effort by House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, to "earn the support of Muslim lawmakers."

"It’s not what you voted for. It’s not what you wanted," reads a description of the anti-Muslim mailing campaign on the project's website. "Unfortunately, it is what Phelan and his allies did."

Largely identical, other than identifying different GOP incumbents, the mailers have gone out to voters in Republican-held districts across Texas in recent weeks, focusing on the legislative process to pass the resolutions — steps that are typical to advance congratulatory measures for sports teams, communities, holidays and individuals.

Brady Gray, who leads Texas Family Project, has been with the organization since last June after leaving his position as chief executive officer of Pale Horse strategies, a conservative consulting firm led by Jonathan Stickland, a former state representative who was widely criticized last year after hosting an hourslong meeting with an avowed white supremacist.

Gray did not respond to an American-Statesman request for comment.

Phelan, in a statement to the Statesman, said the mailers are based on "faux outrage" and meant to weaponize prejudice.

“These hateful mailers represent the increasingly reckless turn our political discourse is taking at the hands of dark money groups and the bigotry they espouse," Phelan said. "The members being targeted with these deceitful mailers have strong, proven conservative records, so with nothing of substance to attack them on, these groups have resorted to fabricating outrageous lies."

Similarly, Rep. Ellen Troxclair, R-Lakeway, who has been targeted by the mailers, called them a "deceitful" attempt to mislead Republican voters and deflect attention from conservative policies lawmakers passed last year.

"It’s going to backfire, because Hill Country residents won’t fall for it," Troxclair said in a statement. "Voters want leaders who are principled and honest, not people who will lie and cheat in their desperation for office."

With voters receiving a version of the mailer in her North Texas district, Rep. Kronda Thimesch, R-Lewisville, said the advertising campaign is a degradation of respect for religious freedoms in favor of expanding the influence of dark money in politics.

“The mailer sent to my district saddens me — that some members of my own Republican Party have strayed so far that they no longer respect religious freedoms … the very foundation of our country," Thimesch said. "The holiday resolutions presented on the House floor were recognizing fellow Americans and many hard-working residents of our community."

For Bhojani, who contributed his family's Quran to be the first Islamic religious text to be housed alongside the Bible in the Capitol chapel, addressing the escalation in both violence and rhetoric against the Muslims in Texas cannot be ignored or delayed.

To be most effective, Bhojani said, there should be a focus on positivity and rallying around peoples' similarities in an effort to be inclusive and understanding.

"I think the state of Texas is all about love and compassion and, you know, all the interfaith dialogue that we have in this state, and that's what I try to promote in the Texas Legislature as well," Bhojani said.

For example, when his Quran was briefly stolen from the chapel after being displayed last year, Bhojani decided not to press charges and instead spoke with the suspect about the connections and similarities between the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Quran.

Bhojani conceded, though, that it's difficult to remain hopeful and positive in the face of violence against Muslims, referencing a stabbing Sunday in Austin that law enforcement has called "bias-motivated."

Zacharia Doar, a 23-year-old Palestinian American from the Dallas area, was stabbed after attending a pro-Palestinian rally at the Capitol on Sunday, according to police. Doar has since undergone successful surgery and is recovering from his injuries.

The Council on Arab-Islamic Relations has called the attack a hate crime.

"It's just showing a disturbing trend; we just can't ignore it," Bhojani said. "We need to face it, and I think the way we do that is by making sure that we bring all faith communities together in the state of Texas that exist and try to celebrate their practices and better defend them against any hatred."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Lawmakers: anti-Muslim ads in Texas must be countered with positivity