DEARBORN HEIGHTS — A candidate for U.S. Congress vying to uproot a conservative incumbent in an evolving local district met with Arab Americans Tuesday in Dearborn Heights.

Candidate for U.S. Congress Natalie Manoogian Mosher, center, with a group of Arab Americans Tuesday.

Natalie Manoogian Mosher, of Canton, is trying to become the first Democrat elected in the 11th congressional district since 1965.
The longtime Republican stronghold, currently represented by Republican Thaddeus McCotter, encompasses northwestern Wayne and southwestern Oakland counties, including Livonia, Novi, Canton, Westland, Garden City, Redford and a small part of Dearborn Heights.

The district has grown noticeably more diverse in recent years and has a sizable Arab American population, evidenced by large congregations at an Antiochian Orthodox church in Livonia and a mosque in Canton.

A group of Arab American Democrats who hope to help Mosher oust McCotter in November met with the candidate at Al-Ameer restaurant Tuesday to discuss issues and fundraising. The Democrats complained of McCotter’s conservative stances on Middle East foreign policy and domestic issues, and said he’s been inaccessible to constituents wanting to voice concerns about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

They said Mosher, who built ties with Arab American activists as a volunteer during the Obama election campaign, would be more available and more representative of a diverse constituency.

“The diverse community hasn’t had a voice,” said Mosher, who comes from a Detroit working class family of Armenian immigrants.

A former schoolteacher, Mosher spoke to the group about education and health care. Mosher’s past experience as an elected official is limited to having once served as a county commissioner in Ohio.

“I’m not a Washington insider, and that’s a good thing,” she said.

Mosher spoke about helping Michigan’s University Research Corridor boost the state’s fledgling economy. She also touched on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“I’m totally opposed to the lack of human rights, lack of fairness… and the settlements,” she said. “I really see that Palestine is going to have its own state. We have to figure out a way to live together.”

Mosher attended last week’s BRIDGES meeting in Dearborn, a regular meeting of Arab American leaders with local and federal law enforcement officials. She praised that kind of dialogue and said issues brought up at such community meetings would be at the forefront of her work as a representative.

She also played up cultural ties between Arab and Armenian heritage.

“I’m Armenian,” she said. “I’m one of you. We share a lot, culturally.”