North Texas Leaders Push Back Against Political Division

Early voting for the November midterms is now open in Harris County and across Texas. While candidates are running final television spots and holding rallies, a different kind of campaign is underway in North Texas. Local leaders and volunteers are working to keep the focus on how neighbors treat one another as the state’s demographics continue to shift.

Texas is among the most diverse states in the country. Yet political polarization has brought visible strains to the surface. At the recent Republican state convention, Muslim conservatives were asked to convert to Christianity. Meanwhile, a surge in antisemitic incidents has drawn attention to the tensions between different religious and ethnic groups.

In the face of that rhetoric, Lee Loewenstein and Maribeth Desuyo are using their free time to bring people together. They work with the Dallas Interreligious Communities Project, which operates under the Sharing Sacred Spaces nonprofit. This group organizes trainings and events designed to bridge cultural gaps across the United States.

Loewenstein is Jewish, and Desuyo follows the Baháʼí Faith. They lead group trips to various houses of worship. Desuyo explained that the project invites diverse communities together through the entry point of sacred architecture. She said this approach opens the door for connections based on common humanity.

Loewenstein noted that commonalities can be hard to see when surface differences appear large. He said the goal is to recognize both the similarities and the differences among people. The pair believe candidates could learn from this model.

Loewenstein said he wants to see candidates campaign on specific issues rather than using smear tactics. He added that politicians should represent their own beliefs and not misrepresent what others believe. Desuyo added that actions taken against one culture affect others, so the community must care for each other.

In Richardson, Mayor Amir Omar is the city’s first Muslim mayor. He first ran for a U.S. House seat as a Republican in 2006. Although he did not win that race, he served four years on the City Council before becoming mayor. Omar said he does not align himself with one political side.

Omar said there is no party that is better at fixing potholes than the other. He credited companies like Collins Radio and Texas Instruments for bringing diverse engineering and technology minds to Richardson. He said these companies recruited people from many different walks of life and parts of the world.

Omar said the divisiveness from some politicians does not reflect the diversity of his city. He hopes politicians will return to discussing matters that affect daily life. He said he is hopeful that divisive tactics will fail, forcing candidates to focus on things that make a difference.

Texas Rep. Salman Bhojani of Euless agreed that scare tactics like Islamophobia are a distraction. Bhojani was elected in 2022, becoming the first South Asian and one of the first Muslim Texas lawmakers. He said everyone is hurting over grocery bills, gas prices, home insurance, and property taxes.

Bhojani said that instead of talking about these kitchen table issues, politicians are focusing on scapegoating communities. He said that when one community is marginalized and others stay silent, religious freedom begins to erode.