Voters in the US state of Indiana elected Muslim candidate Andre Carson to Congress ysterday, making him just the second person of that faith to serve in the US legislature.
Andre Carson was elected in a special election to fill the seat left vacant after his grandmother, Democratic Congresswoman Julia Carson, died last December.
The younger Carson (33) is a member of the Indianapolis City Council who converted to Islam about a decade ago.
The first and only other Muslim member of the US Congress is Rep Keith Ellison of Minnesota, also a Democrat, who is in his first term.
Mr Carson's faith had not been an issue in the special election, although Mr Ellison became the target of right-wing media presenters for swearing his oath of office on a copy of the Koran once owned by Thomas Jefferson.
