Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a liberal Democrat would like to become the nation’s first Muslim Governor in a state that’s home to the city of Dearborn, with the highest Muslim population outside of the Middle East. The state of Michigan also made news last year when Hamtramck, a city that for decades was known for it’s strong Polish immigrant community, elected its first all-Muslim City Council. It’s probably not that far-fetched that the son of Egyptian immigrants living in a state where tens of thousands of Muslim refugees and immigrants come to live would want to see the state of MI become a “Sanctuary State”.

“My faith is really important to me, as it is for many Americans and Michiganders,” El-Sayed said. “But I think we should be asking ourselves rather than how one prays, or what they pray to, we should ask ourselves what [one] prays for and what one hopes for.”

While El-Sayed said his Islamic values are at the center of his work as a civil servant, he wants people to know his number one priority is to serve the people of Michigan.

But some residents in the state may not be ready to see a Muslim governor. In the last several years, Michigan has been a hotbed of Islamophobia. Dearborn, a predominantly Arab-American city in the Detroit metro area, has been a frequent target of anti-Muslim activists, conspiracy theories and fake news. But El-Sayed doesn’t want Michigan residents to be distracted by anti-Muslim rhetoric and violence — and he wants people to know that the principles of Islam are what guide his service.

“I am running because of the values my Islam teaches me — which includes beliefs in equity, the fundamental rights of all people, a belief that we will judge ourselves as a people based on how we treat the most vulnerable,” El-Sayed said. “A belief in being good to others fundamentally, a belief in respect and dignity to one’s neighbors and one’s friends and one’s family.”-Business Insider