A Republican candidate for state Senate who has a pro-Palestine, pro-sanctuary state, and pro-Bernie Sanders record is hoping to unseat leading Democrat Sen. Jason Pizzo with the support of both the Broward GOP and the American Muslim Progressive Caucus.
The unusual backing from the Broward Republicans raised eyebrows on the right due to many Florida conservatives being staunchly pro-Israel and anti-Palestine. The resulting backlash, which erupted in late September, caused the county's chair to deny support for candidate Imtiaz Mohammad.
Though Chairman Chris Marino claimed the endorsement was a preliminary draft "leaked" by someone attempting to "smear" Broward Republicans, Sen. Pizzo pointed out that the party's voter guide had been publicly available on the official committee's website until the Senator complained on social media.
"Far more critical issues facing Floridians, than those at the @BrowardGOP, but I call bullshit," Sen. Pizzo, the incoming Senate Minority Leader, wrote on X after thanking Broward Republicans for endorsing Mohammad, "the one who thinks America is uneducated, that Democrats are too supportive of Israel, who doesn’t even live in the district, and who repeatedly ignores campaign laws.
"Superb candidate!!" he added sarcastically.
Alas, the American Muslim Progressive Caucus endorsed my Republican opponent.
G’mar Chatima Tova pic.twitter.com/SNMueAg84b
— Sen. Jason Pizzo (@senpizzo) October 11, 2024
A source within the county's Republican executive committee told The Floridian that an "emergency meeting" was called to address the endorsement after publisher Javier Manjarres first covered the story.
On the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, Pizzo revealed that the liberal American Muslim Progressive Caucus endorsed Mohammad over him, making the Republican contender the caucus' only conservative-endorsed candidate for the state legislature.
"G'mar Chatima Tova," Pizzo, a pro-Israel advocate, wrote Saturday after posting the endorsement, using the traditional Jewish greeting said on Yom Kippur.
In 2020, Mohammad ran as a Democrat for Congress on a Bernie Sanders-aligned, anti-Trump platform. He also expressed support for the liberal so-called "Squad" members in Congress, which include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar.
He has called for Florida to become a sanctuary state for undocumented immigrants, demanded that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) be abolished, claimed America "runs on hate," and implored Floridians to vote Republican because Democrats have "failed to provide justice" for the "innocent people of Palestine."
After the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hamas, made up of Palestinians, murdered, kidnapped, and raped scores of Israeli citizens on Oct. 7, 2023, a bloody war between the two entities ensued, dividing Democrats. While the majority of Republicans voiced all-out support for Israel in their campaign to squash the terrorists, some Democrats concerned about civilian casualties in Palestine called for a ceasefire.
The far-left advocates, meanwhile, took it a step further, claiming Israel was committing a genocide of Palestinians and that Hamas is a "resistance" force fighting back against their "oppressors."
Mohammad is hoping to take over Pizzo's seat in SD 37 on Nov. 5
