Can Aisha Farooqi make history by winning Michigan State Assembly seat?

The battle to win the White House has entered its most crucial stage as both the Democratic and Republican candidates are at daggers drawn in the swing states. It’s almost a week before the fate is going to be sealed for Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.

It is an equally decisive moment for a number of races including Congress, Houses and senates of different states of the United States.

Michigan is one such swing state. It is home to a significant number of Muslim Americans especially those of Middle Eastern heritage.

Here, American Pakistani Democrat Aisha Farooqi is contesting for the State Assembly seats. Representing District 57 is an uphill task as she is facing incumbent Republican Thomas Kuh on November 5.

She had successfully advanced from the Democratic primary on August 6, 2024. She defeated Democratic challengers Tyler Fox and Douglas Waggener by securing 66.8% votes.

On the other hand, her rival Thomas Kuhn won his primary unopposed. It is interesting to know that both Farooqi (4,537) and Kuhn (4,657) secured almost equal numbers of their party votes.

And, in the last general elections, Kuhn had defeated Farooqi by bagging 17,606 votes (52.6%) to her 15,842 (47.4%) votes.

Can Farooqi bridge the gap and beat the incumbent? Well, if she does, she will become the first American-Pakistani woman member of the House of Michigan State Assembly.

Who is Aisha Farooqi?

Farooqi is the daughter of a self-made Pakistani couple hailing from Lahore. Both her parents were professors of Chemistry at Punjab University. They had migrated to Scotland where Farooqi was born.

The young girl was 9 when the family moved to Detroit where she graduated from Farmington High School. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy.

Long before entering into professional life, Farooqi had volunteered at a local health clinic for a year. She lives in Sterling Heights, in Macomb County.

Currently, Farooqi is serving as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Wayne County. She has also served on the Zoning Board of Appeals for the City of Sterling Heights and is a member of the Macomb County Black Caucus and the Muslim-Jewish Advisory.

Endorsements

Farooqi has some strong endorsements that can help her collect funds and spread her word.

Some notables include Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Senator Stephanie Chang, State Representative Donavan McKinney, State Representative Sharon MacDonell, Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham, Mayor of Sterling Heights Michael Taylor, Sterling Heights Mayor Pro Tem Liz Sierawski, Troy School Board Trustee Emina Alic, Madison Heights Councilor Quinn Wright, Sterling Heights Councilman Michael Radtke, Activist/Community Leader Joel Rutherford.

In addition to that, AFSCME, MEA, Emily’s List, MI List/Fems for Dems, SMART Local 80, IBEW, Equality Michigan, Planned Parenthood, Run for Something, No Future Without Today, Moms Demand Action have also endorsed her candidacy.

But, the biggest challenge to her campaign is the current situation in the Middle East. A number of Arab Muslim Americans believe that "Kamala Harris has an equal role in the genocide of Palestinians".

Recently, a large number of prayer leaders have endorsed Donald Trump. In his remarks, the prominent Muslim American Belal Alzuhairi said, "We, as Muslims, stand with President Trump because he promises peace, not war. We are supporting Donald Trump because he promised to end war in the Middle East and Ukraine."

Probably, these prayer leaders have forgotten that Trump has labelled Joe Biden as a "Palestinian". 

With the situation of the Middle East in play, every Muslim American Democrat and Republican candidate has an uphill task to convince Muslim voters.

'Elections are not always held to elect the best candidate. They are mostly held to pick up the lesser evil', told veteran American Attorney Jaspreet Singh to this scribe.

Can Farooqi convince voters to opt for Democrats in her constituency? The answer lies in The Al Chemist — a novel that has inspired millions of people including Farooqi.

If one believes Paolo Coehlo, then a number of his quotes fit to the fate of aspiring Pakistani American Farooqi as well. For instance:

• "It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting."
• "When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realise his dream’.

• "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve” the fear of failure."

Farooqi claims to be fearless.