US Congress candidate says senior Democrat told him not to run ‘because he is Muslim’

Jesse Sbaih said the comments from Senate minority leader Harry Reid came during a meeting between the two men at a Las Vegas casino last August. Mr Reid's spokeswoman denied the allegation.

Harry Reid (pictured) is accused by Jesse Sbaih of telling him that, “to be blunt”, his Muslim religion would preclude him from winning the race. J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

WASHINGTON // A Democrat running for US Congress in Nevada has claimed that Senate minority leader Harry Reid discouraged him from running because he is Muslim.

Jesse Sbaih said the comments from his fellow Nevada Democrat came during a meeting the two of them had at a Las Vegas casino last August to discuss Mr Sbaih’s candidacy.

According to Mr Sbaih, Mr Reid told him that, “to be blunt”, his Muslim religion would preclude him from winning the race.

Mr Reid’s spokeswoman, Kristen Orthman, denied the allegation and accused Mr Sbaih of lying.

“Reid told him he couldn’t win but that had nothing to do with his religion, this is now Jesse’s version of events,” Ms Orthman said.

Mr Sbaih's comments were first reported on Tuesday by Nevada political journalist Jon Ralston and The Washington Post. Mr Sbaih claims he is speaking out now because Mr Reid is hindering his candidacy, another accusation the Senate minority leader's staff denied.

The dispute comes amid a presidential campaign filled with hostility toward Muslims as Republican front-runner Donald Trump has suggested banning them from entering the United States.

Mr Sbaih, 40, an attorney and native of Jordan, is a political newcomer who did not grow up in Nevada, and those considerations among others were doubtless weighed by Mr Reid as he sought a good recruit to run for the seat being vacated by Republican Joe Heck. Mr Heck is seeking the Senate seat now held by the retiring Mr Reid. But Ms Orthman said that “not to my knowledge” was religion discussed at all during Mr Reid’s meeting with Mr Sbaih.

Democrats had difficulty finding a candidate for the seat, but Mr Reid ultimately recruited a different Democrat, Jacky Rosen, the leader of a local synagogue.

Mr Sbaih was encouraged to start out running for local office and associates of Mr Reid also offered to help facilitate a post on a federal commission. But Mr Sbaih insisted that he wanted to run for Congress.

“I objected to that because I have every right as an American to run for the office that I think I can do the best job at,” Mr Sbaih said. “We wanted to give back to this amazing nation that’s given us so much.”

Mr Sbaih could not provide any direct evidence to back up his claim that the Senate minority leader told him he could not win because he is Muslim. But he did provide contemporaneous emails between himself and an ally of Mr Reid in which he alluded to the Reid team’s supposed concerns about his “religion and ethnicity” – something the Reid associate disputed even at the time.

Ms Orthman strongly denied the claim that Mr Reid was impeding Mr Sbaih’s candidacy. “He’s not telling the truth,” she said.

Mr Sbaih denied he was motivated by a desire for attention or money in going public with his allegations against Mr Reid after staying silent for months.

* Associated Press