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IOL News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Zohran Mamdani's victory is a Barack Obama moment
New York Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's could reignite hope and transform local governance in a country in which Islamophobia is rife. Zaid Jilani When I found out about New York Democratic Assembly member Zohran Mamdani's upset victory in New York City's mayoral Democratic primary, an old memory popped into my head. It was the day after Barack Obama trounced John McCain in 2008's presidential election. A friend of mine who was running his student chapter for the state of Georgia greeted me at the student center of the University of Georgia, where we both went to school. His face was gleaming. He was the son of Liberian immigrants, and Obama's victory had special resonance for him. America - the same country built off the backs of enslaved Africans - was capable of electing a Black man. 'Now you could be elected president,' I told him. Not missing a beat, he replied, 'Now you could!' Let's not get carried away, I thought. This was still the United States of America. Seven years earlier, a group of fanatics who committed the 9/11 attacks had made Muslim Americans such as me synonymous with terrorism in the eyes of millions. Heck, Obama had to swear up and down over and over that he wasn't Muslim just to get elected. And, in my years working in and around politics since then, my cynicism about this was unchanged. Recall that then-Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison - the first Muslim elected to Congress - had to prove to a CNN host that he wasn't 'working with our enemies.' Then Ellison's bid to run the Democratic Party was derailed nine years later in part because of a handful of critical comments he had made about Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. This came only months after Donald Trump was elected in part on a promise to ban Muslims from entering the United States entirely. Just like our parents had slapped American flags on everything they owned after 9/11, Muslim American politicians and staffers across Capitol Hill and Washington more broadly were counseled to always demonstrate our patriotism first and foremost because it was constantly being questioned by everyone around us. When I worked at progressive think tanks or left-wing political action committees, my superiors were terrified of coming across as too sympathetic to Muslim American concerns about the Middle East or American foreign policy more broadly. They didn't want to get called antisemitic or be accused of sympathizing with terrorists. The war in Gaza compounded this sense of feeling besieged. Two presidents in a row have signed up to support what appears to be an endless war against Palestinian sovereignty itself, going far beyond what was necessary to defend against Hamas militancy. As they watched tens of thousands of civilians killed on their TV screens and social media feeds by a military backed to the hilt by American taxpayer support, many Muslims I knew felt like the country had accepted these Palestinian deaths so easily because America simply will never allow Muslims to be coequals. But Mamdani's victory set off a vibe shift among my Muslim friends, family and colleagues like nothing I've ever seen before. People I know who believed that America would never accept Muslims for who they were now believe that anything is possible. Maybe my friend at UGA all those years ago wasn't wrong. Maybe there could be a Muslim president in my lifetime. In that sense, Mamdani's victory is an Obama moment for us. A young and principled Muslim faced off with the beating heart of the local Democratic establishment, which held nothing back as it sought to tar him as an antisemitic extremist. There is no more politically inflammatory charge in New York, which has the largest Jewish population of any city in America. And yet not only did he win, he won handily. By breaking this glass ceiling, Mamdani restored faith in the American experiment among millions of American Muslims. The way he did it mattered, too: Watching Mamdani run what was essentially a joint ticket with Comptroller Brad Lander, a Jewish progressive, I saw a vision of mutual respect and admiration across cultural lines that felt like the best of America. That it happened in the same city targeted on 9/11 made it all the more poignant as well. The national trauma that defined American life in my childhood did not have to define it in my future. If New Yorkers could give Mamdani a chance, they could give the rest of us one, too. None of this is to say that I endorse the idea of voting for someone just because they share your faith or ethnicity. I agree with then-Sen. John F. Kennedy, who said in 1960: 'I want no votes solely on account of my religion.' I think people should vote for the best candidate based on their experience, values and ideas - not based on religious or ethnic tribalism. I worry that Mamdani's relative inexperience could be an issue as he is likely set to govern America's most populated city, and some of his ideas might be too radical. Scrutinizing him on these grounds is warranted. But I also want to live in a country where a Muslim candidate for office will be scrutinized based on their record, not their religion. And with Mamdani's victory on Tuesday, America showed Muslim Americans that despite all our cynicism over the past 20 years, this continues to be the best country in the world for minorities - a place where prejudices cannot and will not hold back progress.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kenyatta Stewart beats the odds with win in 35th District Assembly primary
PATERSON — By normal standards, the odds were stacked against Kenyatta Stewart in the Democratic Assembly primary in the 35th legislative district. Democratic Party leaders in Passaic and Bergen counties were backing other candidates. Stewart trailed in campaign fundraising. And in Paterson — the city where political insiders said Stewart needed to win by large vote numbers — the mayor, seven City Council members and a majority of the Board of Education endorsed Stewart's rivals. In the days leading up to the election, Stewart supporters said privately they hoped the popular lawyer and community activist would eke out a narrow win. But the victory margin wasn't Stewart registered a resounding victory, with more than a 1,000-vote advantage, as he won five of six wards in Paterson, prevailed in the neighboring Passaic County towns of Prospect Park and Haledon, and finished third but far stronger than expected in the district's two Begen County communities — Elmwood Park and Garfield. 'People are just tired of listening to the political bosses and machines,' said Paterson activist Ernest Rucker in explaining Stewart's triumph. 'We're not going to bow down to them anymore.' Another Paterson civic leader, Roger Grier, said Stewart was well known in the city for his community work and offered voters 'something fresh.' 'People were looking for something different,' Grier said. 'They were excited that Kenyatta was in the race.' Stewart's running mate in the November general election has yet to be determined. Former Paterson councilman Al Abdelaziz, who was appointed to fill one of the district's Assembly seats in January, has a lead of more than 200 votes over Passaic County Commissioner Orlando Cruz. Abdelaziz and Cruz were the team picked by the Passaic County Democratic leadership. The final results won't be determined until after this week, once the remaining mail-in and provisional ballots are counted, officials said. Several prominent Paterson Democrats noted that some party members wanted Stewart to get picked to run for the Passaic County Commission last year. But party leaders were not ready to support him. They saw some degree of poetic political justice in Stewart's stunning primary win. 'This is definitely a wake-up call for the Passaic County Democratic Party,' said former county commissioner Theodore 'TJ' Best, who was among Stewart's supporters. 'The leaders of the Democratic Party need to listen to what the people want.' Best and others said Stewart's victory seemed to replicate Benjie Wimberly's success at a special Democratic Party convention last January, when he won a seat in the state Senate by one vote without support from county political leaders. Former Paterson school board member Manny Martinez backed Wimberly in January and Stewart in the primary. 'In a true democracy, the people are given an opportunity to choose who they want and aren't told who they should vote for,' Martinez said. 'That's the grassroots movement we're seeing here.' Wimberly now will run on the Democratic ticket with Stewart and whoever emerges between Abdelaziz and Cruz. Wimberly technically was on the same ticket with Abdelaziz and Cruz in the primary. But political insiders noted that Stewart and Wimberly attended numerous community events where Stewart's campaign took photos of the two men together. 'He ran an outstanding race,' Wimberly said of Stewart, 'and it was a clean race. You didn't see any mudslinging.' Stewart works as Newark Mayor Ras Baraka's city law director in Essex County. Political pundits said the relationship between Stewart and Baraka benefited both men in the primary. Baraka was the only candidate in the Democratic gubernatorial primary who opened a campaign headquarters in Paterson and that paid off for him. Unofficial numbers show Baraka with more than 3,200 Paterson votes in the primary, almost four times as many as Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who won the six-person contest to be the Democrats' candidate in the November election for governor. 'Most people who voted for Ras probably also voted for Kenyatta,' Wimberly said. This article originally appeared on Kenyatta Stewart beats the odds with win in 35th District
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
$35-per-month cap on out-of-pocket insulin costs advances in Nevada Legislature
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Legislation to cap out-of-pocket expenses for insulin at $35 per month was introduced Wednesday in Carson City and advanced quickly by lawmakers. Democratic Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager presented Assembly Bill 555 (AB555) at a joint committee meeting, and the bill earned bipartisan support in a unanimous vote that advanced it to the Assembly for consideration. 'As Nevadans continue to feel the pinch from the disastrous economic policies at the national level, it is incumbent on us at the state level to find solutions for them,' Yeager said. AB555 seeks to help tens of thousands of Nevadans who rely on insulin to treat diabetes. Estimates offered during the meeting said as many as 50,000 people, and possibly as high as 70,000, would benefit from the cap, which would apply to private insurance companies that set copays for insured Nevadans. The bill only applies to private insurers. Republicans in the joint committee asked if the bill would result costs being shifted to other states or result in higher premiums for all health coverage. They also cited comments by President Donald Trump that he intended to do something about prescription costs. 'Not knowing what the federal government's going to do, this is what we can do as a Legislature right now in this moment,' Yeager said. 'And we should get this passed and enacted into law. And if the federal government comes behind us and does something better or more comprehensive, I obviously would be all for that.' Federal assistance that came through the Inflation Reduction Act lowered costs for diabetes patients who receive Medicare. A $35-per-month cap went into place on Jan. 1, 2023. Since then, 26 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws similar to the one introduced at the Nevada Legislature. The American Diabetes Association estimates that more than 250,000 Nevada adults have been diagnosed with diabetes. Because of the high cost of insulin, some people have rationed doses or stopped taking insulin completely. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Epoch Times
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
California Bill Would Broaden Discrimination Protections in Schools
A committee in the California Legislature will consider a bill on May 21 that seeks to strengthen and broaden existing discrimination protections in K–12 schools to target anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Under The bill, introduced by Democratic Assembly members Rick Chavez Zbur of Los Angeles and Dawn Addis of San Luis Obispo, would also establish a state anti-Semitism coordinator who would ensure schools and staff, including contractors, are in compliance with existing anti-discrimination laws. To address specific forms of discrimination, the bill expands the definition of 'nationality' to include a person's actual or perceived shared ancestry, ethnic characteristics, or residency in a country with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity. It also explicitly defines religious discrimination to include anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, aiming to provide clearer protections against these forms of bias. It also prohibits schools from adopting, approving, or allowing any content in their teaching materials if its use would subject a student to unlawful discrimination. The bill unanimously passed the Assembly Education Committee on May 14 and will next be heard by the Appropriations Committee. Related Stories 5/19/2025 5/17/2025 Zbur, a member of the California Jewish Legislative Caucus, says the bill lays the framework to address a rise in anti-Semitism in schools. 'Jewish and all students deserve to be safe, affirmed and respected in our schools and communities,' Zbur said in a AB 715 is co-authored by the chairs of the other Ethnic caucuses, including the Black, Latino, Asian, and Pacific Islander caucuses. Zbur and Addis withdrew a similar piece of legislation last week that failed to gain ground in the Legislature. Assembly Bill 1468 had called for creating academic standards that would have laid out what could and couldn't be taught in mandatory ethnic studies courses. Opponents of AB 1468 and AB 715, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said the bill amounted to censorship and threatened academic freedom. 'AB 1468 was a blatant attempt to undermine Ethnic Studies and silence Palestinian narratives,' the CEO of CAIR's California Chapter, Hussam Ayloush, said in a The decision to replace AB 1468 was the result of collaboration with the other ethnic caucuses and aims to take a broader focus on discrimination that would apply to all schoolwork, not just ethnic studies, said lawmakers. In Since Oct. 7, 2023, when the Hamas terrorist group launched a land, sea, and air attack on Israel, tensions have increased among the Israelis and Palestinians amid the subsequent war in Gaza, especially on U.S. The U.S. Department of Education has in recent months On March 7, the department, along with the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration,
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Plan for charter school teacher raises unveiled at Nevada Legislature
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — In line with statements made over the past week, Democratic Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager on Thursday unveiled a proposal at the Nevada Legislature to fund raises for charter school teachers throughout the state. And despite statements that were generally supportive, paying for those raises might prove a bitter pill to swallow if the legislation moves forward. Yeager proposed committing $90 million from the state's rainy day fund to pay for raises for 'hard-to-fill' school positions. A conceptual amendment would tack on $38 million for the charter school teacher raises over the next two years. 'Now, I'm going to acknowledge right away that asking for a transfer out of the state's rainy day fund is a serious request and I believe one that is probably going to cause members of this committee and others some concern and some discontent,' Yeager said as he presented Assembly Bill 389 (AB389) to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. 'Let me tell you why I'm proposing it. 'I do think that it is accurate to say that it is already raining and has been raining when it comes to filling hard-to-fill positions. And if we are being honest with ourselves, things are only likely to get worse when it comes to education and education funding given what is happening at the federal level at the moment,' Yeager said. Republicans who voted against the entire education budget to protest the absence of raises for charter school teachers applauded Yeager's efforts on Thursday. Lombardo threatens to veto education budget over missing charter school teacher raises The bill received some opposition from unions that objected to education support professionals (ESAs) being left out of the plan. Yeager addressed that issue as he answered questions about the bill. 'I didn't believe it would be fiscally responsible for me to include them now, and and I don't want to spread the funding too thin so that it doesn't work and achieve the objectives of actually filling these hard-to-fill positions,' he said. John Vellardita of the Clark County Education Association helped present the bill, affirming that funding allocated by the 2023 Legislature made a big difference. That funding brought pay raises of about 20%. He told the committee that teacher vacancies have been reduced by about 53%, giving examples of the impact at elementary, middle and high schools in Clark County: 'We are very appreciative of the investment that was made last time. It was significant by this body, both in the allocation to the education budget as well as to SB231. It has made a difference down in Clark, and we're asking for this to continue.' AB389 takes 'a much more surgical approach' designed to make sure there's an educator in each classroom, Vellardita said. Two years ago, Title 1 schools with vacancy rates above 5% were targeted. This time around, that threshold is much higher. That became clear as Yeager outlined the definition of 'hard-to-fill' positions. They fit into two categories as defined by AB389: A teacher position at a Title 1 school which has: A vacancy rate of 15% or more (high school) A vacancy rate of 12% or more (middle school or junior high) A vacancy rate of 10% or more (elementary school) 'A teacher position or other position staffed by a person licensed under Chapter 391 of the NRS who is a teacher of record assigned to a classroom and whose duties include actively teaching pupils during a class period for the majority of the class periods during the school day in English language arts, mathematics, science or special education is such subjects are suffering from a critical labor shortage as determined by the board of trustees of the school district.' Besides the vacancy rates, the definition adds special education teachers to the list. If AB389 passes, the program would remain completely separate from the education budget. It would run through the Interim Finance Committee, with funds distributed to the Department of Education, which would disburse funds to school districts. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
