American Arab Anton “Tony” Khoury announced he will run for the office of U.S. Senate in Florida as an independent in the upcoming elections. Khoury’s election comes int he heat of the election contest for president between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton
By Ray Hanania
covering Chicago
City Hall
(1976-1992)
More and more American Arabs are entering politics and running for public office in the hopes of breaking the glass ceiling that has kept our community from fully securing their rights and benefits as Americans.
Anton “Tony” Khoury, 57, is an American Arab Palestinian who immigrated to the United States from his home in Jerusalem when he was 17 years old, earned an undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering and a masters in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Miami, and then launched two successful Florida aviation companies.
A long-time resident of Coral Gables, Khoury says he is running for the open U.S. Senate seat in Florida as an Independent with “No Party Affiliation” to break the gridlock and inefficiency of our government in Washington D.C. caused by the bi-partisan bickering between the insider establishment political parties.
Khoury explains on his website at www.khoury4florida.com that, “The ideals of one party do not always act in the best interest of all Americans. As an Independent Tony will not be bound to the sole convictions of one party. “I pledge my allegiance to the United States of America and all the people of Florida. My goal as your senator is to represent the people, not the political elites, either Republican or Democrat.”
Tony started several successful aviation businesses where he has employed hundreds of employees.
“I want to be the senator who is elected by the people and works for the people of Florida”. As a senator, I will be beholden to the people of Florida and not to any special interest groups. I want to bring the power of the Senate to the people of Florida,” says Tony. “I want to represent all Floridians.”
A key issue is to open the doors to Syrian refugees as long as the refugees are properly vetted, a position that challenges the views of the established parties and elected officials who have blocked sanctuary for refugees from the Middle East because of racism, politics and fear.
Khoury also criticized the decision by failed presidential candidate Marco Rubio to break his earlier campaign promise to not run for re-election for the U.S. Senate from Florida. Rubio, who lost in a landslide rejection by voters in his presidential bid, was viewed as a damaged candidate and had announced he would not seek re-election to the Senate.
But Rubio changed his mind at the last minute, prompting criticism from Khoury, who wrote in a recently editorial: “The latest news of Marco Rubio, and the push for him to run again for Florida U.S. Senate just goes to show that the Republican Party is truly broken. Further, it only indicates that none of the five Republican candidates that are running have a chance against me. I am the best candidate to win this race. As an Independent, I am not bound to the usual party politics and the party bosses. We should vote on people’s issues and finally put the people above the parties. I am staying in the race until the end, as an independent NPA — and until the last vote is counted.”
Click here to read Khoury’s entire political statement.
Tony Khoury has achieved the American dream and is living proof that the United States of America is “the land of opportunity”. He arrived on the shores of this great country at the young age of seventeen. He completed his Aerospace Engineering degree in three and a half years. He gained invaluable aviation experience working for Batch Air and Eastern Airlines, two iconic South Florida companies. Tony successfully founded multiple aviation companies employing hundreds of people. His two children followed his passion for engineering and each earned a master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Miami. His son is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in the field.
Tony is not a career politician. In fact, this is his first run for public office. He is not affiliated with the establishment and is not seeking to enrich himself, or appease special interests. Instead, he wants to serve the people of this country and the Great State of Florida that adopted him forty years ago.The American people are frustrated with career politicians and the entrenched political establishments.
Tony is running as an Independent, no party affiliation, because he believes he can make a difference without the burden of entrenched political establishments and their high-powered lobbyists. He will succeed with hard work, high ethical standards, business experience, and fresh ideas to advance the interests of the state of Florida and the United States of America. He is running in this year’s election because he strongly believes his common sense approach can solve the most pressing issues affecting the people of Florida. He believes, like millions of Americans, that the current system of partisanship voting by their elected representatives does not reflect the wishes of the people. Rather, career politicians vote according to the wishes of the existing political parties that pander openly to special interests.
Tony is organizing a listening tour across the state and through every county, so the people can voice their concerns to him directly. He believes in term limits and makes the pledge that, when elected, he will serve only two terms. Together, with the people, Florida will become the greatest state in the nation.
Khoury and other Americans hoping to win office by sidestepping the gridlock of the existing partisanship of the two major political parties might also consider looking towards the independent candidate support website EVoteAmerica.com which was set up by California Senate candidate Jason Hanania earlier this year. Hanania [who is related to the author of this commentary] ran unsuccessfully in California’s June 7 elections as an independent but drew more than 27,000 votes.
Florida is a key election state in the battle for President and Khoury’s candidacy should get some high profile coverage int he coming months. Florida has primary elections in August and a general election in November coinciding with the national elections.
To Support Tony in his candidacy also LIKE his Facebook Page by clicking here.
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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