Contender may become first Muslim in US Congress

After all, despite Minneapolis's demographic changes, blacks comprise less than 15 percent of his district, which includes both the city and several well-off suburbs.

Ellison was extremely successful in his efforts to increase turnout among minorities and immigrants who rarely vote in primaries – the number of primary voters from the heavily minority district he represents as a state legislator more than tripled from two years ago – but he also reached out to environmentalists, union members, gays and lesbians, antiwar folks, Jewish voters, and Minnesota's active progressive community, many of whom see him as a politician after the model of their hero, the late Sen. Paul Wellstone (D).

"Put all these communities together, and we end up with a quilt that can cover us all," Ellison tells smiling supporters at Clean Water Action, an environmental justice group that endorsed him. "Just keep on inviting more people into vote, and we're going to rock this thing."

As he walks out of their office, he pauses by a photo of Mr. Wellstone. "That's the man," he says. "I just really admire him."

Ellison's critics point out that he won the primary with just 29,000 votes, in a district with 300,000 voters. But his 41 percent primary victory in a crowded field was still notable.

His campaign was helped significantly when he won the endorsement of Minnesota's powerful Democratic Farmer Labor (DFL) party – the local Democratic Party equivalent – and of most unions. He's a progressive candidate – advocating universal single-payer healthcare, immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, and environmental justice – in a district that's among the most progressive in the country.

He might also have been helped, to an extent, by the fact that politics in mostly white Minnesota aren't as racially charged as in many cities, experts say.

"The other [primary] candidates didn't zero in on race or religion. What stood out was how little they talked about it," says Professor Jacobs. "The Democratic characteristics and the less well developed political identities of these racial and religious groups made it possible for Ellison in this district and this election to emerge."

While liberal voters emphasize that it's his issues that primarily won them over, some also love the idea of being the first district to send a Muslim to Congress.

"I'll be honest – to have my little Lutheran community sending him makes me proud," says Bob Hulteen, the organizing director for Take Action, a coalition of progressive groups, as Ellison stops in to thank cheering members and chat with them about their experiences getting out the vote in the primaries.

Muslims, both in Minneapolis and around the country, are quick to cheer his success as well.

"It sends two very positive messages," says Corey Saylor, national legislative director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group in Washington. "It sends a message about the American people, that five years after 9/11 they're comfortable sending an American to Congress, on issues not based on faith. And for the American Muslim community, it says our community has grown in political inclusion to the point where we can get someone elected to higher office."

Ellison, meanwhile, understands that excitement, but is a bit tired of it.

"All that 'first' stuff isn't why I got in the race, and it doesn't keep me in the race," he says, taking an hour out of a busy day to cheer for his son Elijah at a football game.

"My goals are to have excellent constituent services, and to leverage the energy, talent, and intelligence of the district. I want to see the minimum wage increased and Medicare Part B reformed.... If my religion can prove to people that Muslims can make a contribution – to me, that's a side benefit."

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