Loading ...Muslim Egyptian-American Engineer Seeks to Represent Massachusetts State in 2018
SOURCE: EGYPT INDEPENDENT
A young Muslim-American of Egyptian origin, Nadeem Mazen, a councilor in the US city of Cambridge in Massachusetts, recently launched his electoral campaign to run as a candidate for the upcoming congressional elections.
Mazen, 34, arrived in the US at age five and is the son of an Egyptian-born father and Indiana-born mother. He graduated from Philips Academy Andover in 2002 and from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006 with a degree in mechanical engineering.
Last week, he filed a statement of candidacy to run for the Lowell-anchored Third Congressional District seat held by US Democratic Representative Niki Tsongas, who is retiring.
Mazen, the most famous Muslim who holds an elected post in Massachusetts State, plans to focus his campaign on economic issues. His attempt to rise from a local official to a congressman is consistent with the spirit of the group he founded in February aims to encourage more Muslims to seek elections in US.
With the approach of the 2018 Congress elections, Mazen is preparing himself to face questions about his faith as recent held polls show that many Americans have a negative view of Muslims after their memories have been marked by events such as the attacks of September 11, 2011 and the 2013 bombings at the Boston Marathon.
“People do not understand what it means to me to be a Muslim and that I believe that my faith requires the service of every American,” Mazen said in a media interview.
If Mazen’s achieved success in reaching the congress, he may join US Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Andrea Carson of Indiana as the third Muslim in Congress.
