‘It’s solid gold’: Some Texas Republicans ramp up criticisms of Muslims to energize primary voters

(CNN) — Running in a contentious race to keep his seat, Sen. John Cornyn put out an ad vowing to fight “radical Islam.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Cornyn’s opponent in the May 26 runoff, accused his rival of helping “radical Islamic Afghans invade Texas.”

Rep. Chip Roy, running to replace Paxton as attorney general in a runoff next month, has alleged without evidence that parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, home to thousands of Muslims, have become what some Texas women believe to be “no-go zones” in which they are “increasingly feeling uncomfortable, as if they are somehow immersed in the Middle East.”

Certain Republicans in Texas have made anti-Islamic rhetoric part of their primary campaigns, arguing that Muslims have made the state less safe. That’s a notable message in the nation’s largest conservative state and one that’s echoed by a handful of Republicans nationally, including members of Congress.

Border issues have long animated conservatives – particularly in Texas, which has the longest section of US-Mexico border of any state – and were seen as critical to President Donald Trump’s 2024 victory.

Vinny Minchillo, a Republican strategist based in Plano, Texas, said that with illegal immigration hitting lows during Trump’s presidency, it made sense for GOP candidates to drive at another immigration-related concern and that opposition to Sharia law, or Islamic religious law, in particular was a winner in primaries.

“It is playing as well as anything I have ever seen with Texas Republican voters,” said Minchillo, who worked on the media team for Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign and Mitt Romney’s 2012 bid. “It’s solid gold.”

Muslim leaders living in Texas argue that the ramp-up of rhetoric endangers their communities and spreads misconceptions about Sharia law and about Islam in general.

“These congressmen and these state representatives live in neighborhoods where Muslims live. They shop at stores where Muslims shop,” said Sameena Karmally, an Indian American Muslim who lives in Collin County and previously ran for the state House in 2014.

Particularly with the outbreak of the war with Iran, Karmally argued, “They need some kind of demon and we’re going to be it.”

The recent Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapevine, Texas, leaned into the issue, featuring a panel called “Don’t Sharia My Texas,” in which one speaker, former Tarrant County GOP chairman Bo French, denounced what he called the “Islamification of Texas and America.”

And a number of national Republicans, meanwhile, have called for the deportation of all Muslims or their exclusion from public life. Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee wrote: “Muslims don’t belong in American society. Pluralism is a lie.” Texas Rep. Brandon Gill said, “We will never stop Sharia law until we stop Muslim immigration.” Rep. Randy Fine of Florida posted: “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.”

Several candidates in Texas have pointed to a deadly shooting in Austin, the state capital, in which the suspect, a naturalized US citizen from Senegal, attacked a nightlife district wearing a hoodie emblazoned with “Property of Allah.”

Roy noted that the gunman in the Austin shooting became a legal permanent resident in 2006, during Republican President George W. Bush’s presidency. He reflected on the past “GOP celebration of the joys of ‘melting pot’ legal immigration” and added: “This is why we are losing our country, our immigration system is a joke, and should PAUSE ALL immigration.”

“Sharia law is incompatible with the Constitution and cannot supersede Texas or US law, and I will continue to stand unapologetically for the rule of law and in defense of Western Civilization against the Islamists who attack it,” Roy told CNN in a statement.

The Paxton campaign did not respond to requests for comment, and the Cornyn campaign declined to comment.

Paxton’s allegation that Cornyn helped “radical Islamic Afghans invade Texas” was an apparent reference to legislation Cornyn co-sponsored in 2021. Cornyn co-sponsored the HOPE for Afghan SIVs Act, which accelerated the immigration process for Afghan interpreters and translators who assisted US forces in Afghanistan.

A source familiar with the legislation told CNN that the vetting and number of visas available to Afghans are separate from Cornyn’s Hope for Afghan SIVs Act, which only pertained to the timing of a medical exam for Afghans and has since expired.

Muslims in Texas: EPIC City and allegations of Sharia law

Muslims have long been a part of public life in Texas, making up roughly 2% of the state.

But concerns about Sharia law in the state reignited in recent years with the proposal of an Islamic community development in North Texas, which has faced pushback at the state and federal level after the site was purchased in fall 2024.

The East Plano Islamic Center, known as EPIC City, is a 402-acre Islamic-focused planned development near the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area that would include 1,000 homes, a mosque, K-12 religious school, senior living center and retail space.

Texas leaders, including Cornyn and Paxton, have pursued investigations into the community. Cornyn previously called upon the Justice Department to explore allegations of religious discrimination, while Paxton has focused on alleged violations related to state oversight and Texas securities law.

Dan Cogdell, an attorney for EPIC City who formerly represented Paxton during his impeachment trial, dismissed claims of Sharia law in a news conference last April: “No one associated with EPIC, no one associated with that community, follows Sharia law or is in favor of Sharia law or is implementing Sharia law.”

Dr. Mehmet Salih Sayilgan, an assistant teaching professor at Georgetown University’s Department of Theology and Religious Studies, says he has not seen or heard of any attempt to enact Sharia law anywhere in America.

Sayilgan says Sharia law, which he defines as a set of rituals Muslims follow, has coexisted with the US Constitution since the time of the Founding Fathers.

“Following the Constitution is also part of Islamic law,” he said, because Islam teaches that if you are a “minority in a country, follow the law of the land.”

Still, among the 10 non-binding propositions on this year’s Republican primary ballot was a question asking voters if they thought “Texas should prohibit Sharia Law.” The proposition yielded overwhelming support for prohibiting Sharia law in Texas, with nearly 95% of primary voters voting “yes,” while 5% said “no.”

While the results don’t trigger immediate action, they do indicate to lawmakers how voters feel ahead of the next legislative session in January 2027, where bills to address Sharia law could be on the agenda. In 2017, the Texas Legislature passed a bill that addressed religious legal frameworks – House Bill 45 – that prohibits the Texas Supreme Court from applying foreign laws in certain family law cases.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil liberties group formed to challenge anti- Muslim discrimination nationwide, has also drawn the ire of Texas leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott, who designated the group, along with the Muslim Brotherhood, as a foreign terrorist organization and transnational criminal organization last November.

Shaimaa Zayan, the operations manager for CAIR Austin, accused Republicans of “dehumanizing” Muslims. “They are using us as a boogeyman to scare people so that they can vote for them. They are using us as a scapegoat to gain political positions and power,” Zayan said.

Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, says that politicians previously took “polite steps” of telling Muslims they are not the enemy domestically.

Trump notably launched his first campaign with a vow to bar all Muslim immigrants and instituted several visa bans on majority Muslim countries.

“The boldness in the thesis of a Christian America has moved,” Abou El Fadl said, adding, “Those who wanted to change the jurisprudence of separation between church and state were still shy about it and still unsure about their ability to do so, and they would, you know, it would come out in indirectly, suggestively. But things have changed.”

Democratic state Rep. Salman Bhojani, who is one of two Muslims in the Texas state House, says there has always been Islamophobia but noted it is “more shameless and scary than ever.”

But Fort Bend County Constable Ali Sheikhani, a Pakistani American and a Republican, said he is a prime example that Muslim people are welcome in the GOP.

Sheikhani told CNN he has never experienced any type of retaliation for his faith but rather felt welcomed by the diverse set of individuals who voted for him.

“They never let me feel like, you know, I’m from outside and I’m from Pakistan or anything. They just treat me like one of them,” he said.

A primary message or a general election message?

The question of how much anti-Islam messaging will factor into the midterm elections – both in Texas and nationally – prompts different responses even among Republican strategists who are immersed in campaigns statewide.

Minchillo believes the issue will nationalize, particularly as a “differentiator” between Democrats and Republicans.

“If it’s an opportunity to rev up Republicans and get them to come out and vote, you’re going to see this,” Minchillo said.

Brendan Steinhauser, a Republican strategist based in Austin, Texas, and Washington, DC, thinks the issue won’t last through the midterms. Steinhauser said by talking about Sharia law, campaigns may lose some voters in the middle, especially if they are not touching on pocketbook issues like the economy and jobs.

“I think it’ll be quite limited in the general. I don’t expect Republican candidates to talk about it as much in the general,” Steinhauser said. “Because I think that this issue is a niche issue among kind of hardcore Republicans, conservatives in primaries.”

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