Ferial Masry, US Democrat candidate wanted to dedicate victory to Mecca!
Saudi-born member of the United States Democratic Party Ferial al-Masry lost in her fourth run for the open seat of California’s 37th State Assembly District of Ventura in LA County to Republican Jeff Gorell.
The Democratic nominee for the predominantly white Republican District 37 in the state of California, al-Masry, is the first Saudi to run in U.S. elections She admitted to losing her chance to be her district’s representative even though the polls have not closed and the final results are not out yet.
"Republican Jeff Gorell got 50% of the votes while I got 40%," she told AlArabiya.net in a phone interview from her home in Los Angeles. "I admit that I was defeated. Even though only 50% of the votes have been sorted so far, I know that there is no hope for me"
Masry said she did not receive any donations for her election campaign which cost her a total of $200,000.
"I borrowed half this amount from the bank and will repay it in installments from my salary."
Masry earns $ 50,000 per year from her job as a teacher of American history and government in a high school in San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.
Masry has lost the elections three times before running in 2010 and after the fourth time, she decided she will no longer run for office but will instead dedicate her time to political activism.
"I’m planning to establish an association for Arab and Muslim women in California and focus on the problems facing female immigrants in the West."
The Republican winner Jeff Gorell, Mary noted, is a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy Reserve. He served in Afghanistan for one year immediately after the September 11 attacks and was honored for his actions while in combat, especially in fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
Masry said she accepted her defeat and is not frustrated even though her victory would have offered her a chance to pay tribute to her hometown.
"I would have dedicated this victory to my city, the holy Mecca."
Political career
Al-Masry, 58, was born in Mecca and visited Saudi Arabia three times since she left for the United States 34 years ago. Her father worked as a guide for pilgrims until he died.
She left Saudi Arabia for Egypt with her family when she was 9 years old and obtained her B.A. in journalism from Cairo University.
In Egypt she met the Lebanese Walid al-Masry and they got married and left for California. He currently works as a civil engineer in Los Angeles, where the entire family lives.
Masry took an interest in politics during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. She participated in anti-war demonstrations and began to attend Democrats’ meetings.
She became co-chairman of the Democratic Party’s committee in California, a member of the National Political Invention of Women, chairman of the Education Committee at the National Council on U.S.-Arab relations.
In 2005, Masry was granted the Human Rights Award at the Ronald Reagan Library and the 2006 Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Democrat of the Year award.
In 2008, Masry published her autobiography under the title "Running for all the Right Reasons: A Saudi Born Woman’s Pursuit of Democracy."
(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid).