In a bizarre and revealing interview, Lakeshia Mashonda Ruddi Alston, the niqab-wearing Muslim woman running as the sole Republican candidate for North Carolina’s State Senate District 22, delivered a series of rambling and contradictory statements that have only intensified suspicions of her true intentions.
Alston, who has a documented history of voting Democrat since at least 2008, insists she’s a genuine Republican representing the party’s future. But her interview responses, filled with odd declarations, have left many questioning whether this is a deliberate attempt to sabotage the GOP primary.
Alston, a self-described educator, entrepreneur, and community advocate with no prior political experience, has no active campaign website, policy platform, or tied social media presence.
In the Daily Caller interview, Alston attempted to defend her Republican credentials and policy stances, but her responses were often incoherent and just outright strange.
The Daily Caller reports:
When asked what conservative principles she considers important, Alston replied: “I am down for ISIS.”
Alston five times throughout the interview said something to the effect of “I am down for ISIS … I stand for ISIS,” when appearing to refer to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Alston did not clarify whether she was referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement when contacted for follow-up.
“I am down for ISIS. The police tell you that you gotta freeze. You have to stop. I can’t go on to another country without a passport,” Alston said. “I did experience students who did have some interaction with ISIS. And was it sad? Yes, it was very sad. I cried. I empathize with them, which is why I am for ISIS.”
“I am a Republican,” Alston told the DCNF. “I’ve matured in my own revelation of what the Republican Party represents, and it looks like me.”
“Are we going back to segregation time?” Alston asked in response to a question about criticism of her GOP affiliation. “Because, I’m a Republican, and I don’t really understand the aims and the values of what that party represents. So I’m just going to be taken back at what somebody looks like, because we’re used to the Democrats pussy footin’ around.”
In a confusing anecdote, Alston described a “Chinese little boy” friend from Jordan High School whose fingernails were affected by the Hiroshima bombing, despite Hiroshima being in Japan, not China.
Explaining her niqab, Alston said she chose it to avoid turning the election into a “beauty contest,” emphasizing qualifications over appearance, “I didn’t want it to go in for the looks. I wanted it to be about who is the most qualified.”
She argued that it helps focus on substance, incorrectly quoting the Preamble as “Give me liberty or give me peace.”
“Republicans, I mean, if we do our history, we already know we are cultured … We are not, excuse my language, but we’re not redneck honkies who don’t have any education or intellect,” Alston said.
On policy, Alston called herself “pro-choice” regarding firearms, noting “Muslims don’t carry firearms” but supporting gun rights for security. She tied this to “In God We Trust” on currency and rambled about dollars and paradigms. She did not address her stance on abortion.
“I produce good fruit,” the candidate said. “If you would trust me to do body massage, to teach your children, to hand you a pair of shoes and help you try them on, you can most certainly count on me to produce the policy and make the effective change that District 22 so rightfully deserves.”
As previously reported by The Gateway Pundit, Alston filed her candidacy last month with the Durham County Board of Elections, becoming the only Republican in the race for the heavily Democratic District 22.
Primary Sabotage? Niqab-Wearing Muslim Woman Who Has Voted Democrat Since at Least 2008 is the ONLY ‘Republican’ Running for North Carolina Senate
This district is a Democratic stronghold, where Kamala Harris garnered 78% of the vote in 2024, and it’s currently held by Democrat Sophia Chitlik, who faces a primary challenge from former Durham city councilwoman DeDreana Freeman.
Alston is poised to become the presumptive GOP nominee unopposed in the March primary, unless another Republican jumps in.
Public voter records from the North Carolina State Board of Elections reveal Alston’s consistent participation in Democratic primaries and general elections dating back to 2008, including votes in 2020, 2018, 2016, 2014, 2012, 2010, and 2008.
#BREAKING: It has been revealed that Lakeshia M. Alston, the woman running for election as a REPUBLICAN in North Carolina’s Senate District 22 in a full hijab…
…is actually life-long Democrat according to her public voter records
She has been voting Democrat since 2008. pic.twitter.com/zgmjqYeA61
— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) December 28, 2025
To run as a Republican, North Carolina law requires candidates to be affiliated with the party for at least 90 days before filing, meaning Alston must have switched her registration no later than September 18, which conveniently falls after she cast her 2024 ballot as a Democrat.
This abrupt flip has fueled widespread allegations of primary sabotage, with conservatives on social media platforms like X calling for the North Carolina Republican Party to investigate and urging true conservatives to enter the race.
The post Niqab-Wearing Muslim Woman Running for North Carolina Senate as a ‘Republican’ Repeatedly Tells Reporter ‘I Am Down for ISIS’ in Wild Interview appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.