Leading up to Election Day, public radio stations across the state are exploring how Texans’ religious beliefs affect the way they’re thinking about voting in November – and the greater role of government in general. Want to share your story? Send us a voice memo.
As the sun set behind the River Oaks Islamic Center, casting an orange glow in the sky, dozens of people gathered one September afternoon in the mosque’s carpeted prayer room.
Shoes were stacked high on shelves by the entrance, and inside, Muslims of all ages kneeled and prayed in unison for the day’s Maghrib – Islam’s sunset prayer. Once they finished and the sky darkened, Aalia Qazi hung out in the center’s common space, where chatter and laughter filled the air.
Qazi has been attending the central Houston center for years, and this November will be her second time voting in a presidential election.
She had contemplated skipping, believing neither presidential candidate from the major parties represented her faith. But with so much at stake in the Israel-Hamas war, Qazi wants a candidate who will work toward a ceasefire there.
“I feel like if I don’t, my vote is going to be wasted,” Qazi, 23, said. “I don’t know if I’m going to vote for Biden or Kamala or Trump. I think I might vote for Jill Stein.”
Dr. Jill Stein, a third-party candidate for the Green Party, may have garnered enough Muslim-American support to break the community’s two-decade streak of backing Democratic presidential candidates. Israel’s war in Gaza is motivating some Muslims to seek alternatives which would be a major shift since 2000 when a majority of them voted for George W. Bush.
A national poll by the Council on American Islamic Relations, or CAIR, in August, found that a third of American Muslims plan to vote for Stein while another third support Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. Meanwhile, 10% back former president Donald Trump.