Source: The Associated Press

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/11/19/national1420EST0650.DTL

On November 19, 2003 The Associated Press reported that Muslim-American groups believe Islamic candidates are slowly returning to the political scene after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks blunted their progress. The article reports that "in the 2000 election, about 700 candidates ran and 153 were elected, according to the American Muslim Alliance, a national civic group based across the San Francisco Bay in Newark. But by 2002, that number dropped to about 60 candidates. For this month's elections, the alliance doesn't yet have exact figures. National chairman Agha Saeed says it's likely that only a handful of Muslim candidates were on the ballot, but adds that's largely because it was an election off-year. 'I think that in 2004, you're going to continue seeing the rise of political involvement," said Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. 'Now politics is seen as a means of survival. The only way to really secure your rights is to be involved.'"