Muslim-American Voters Providing a Boost for Democrats in Florida

Much has been written about the continued upsurge in Latino registration, political participation and Democratic preference. However, less time has been spent on the growing tide towards the Democrats among Asian-Americans, Muslim-Americans, Indian-Americans and immigrants from Eastern Europe.

Today we will focus specifically on the impact Muslim-Americans (Arabs, Turks, Kurds and South Asian Muslims) made on Florida’s electorate on November 6th.

Activists organization EMERGE USA played a leading role in turning out Muslim-American voters for the 2012 Presidential Election. As Democratic turnout was spiked in urban areas, Florida’s Muslim-Americans (who were traditionally a split constituency) turned out in mass for President Obama and the Democratic ticket. In Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough, Orange and Duval counties, the increased Muslim-American turnout complimented the OFA efforts to bring out voters in large Metropolitan areas .

During the 2011 Tampa Municipal Elections, EMERGE USA played a critical role Muslim American communities across the City of Tampa for the election through its Emerging Voters program. The 3 month long Get‐Out‐the‐Vote efforts of EMERGE USA, which included consistent phone banking, e‐mail communication and interaction with candidates produced a 60% voter turnout from these communities on Election Day. This effort can be strongly credited with the difference Mayor Bob Buckhorn received in the runoff election versus Rose Ferlita.

In future weeks we’ll look closely at the Asian-American vote, Indian-American vote and those of Eastern European immigrants to Florida, and the advocacy organizations working with those communities.