Muhammad Ali Hasan, the energetic and unusual candidate for state legislature, will not become the next state representative for Eagle and Summit counties.
The immensely wealthy son of Seeme and Malik Hasan -- profiled last January in "Is This Muslim Republican Mr. Right or the Big Cheese?" -- lost to Democrat Christine Scanlan by a 54-46 percent margin. This, despite the fact that Hasan, 28, whose personal life became public on repeated occasions over the course of the race for House District 56 -- see our blogs "Ali Need is Love" and "A Perfect Match" -- knocked on well over 18,000 doors, trying to spread his message of lower taxes and his support for a mountain monorail.
Hasan outspent Scanlan 4-1, supplying most of a $315,000-plus campaign war chest himself as he criss-crossed Summit, Eagle and parts of Lake counties.
But that doesn’t mean Hasan’s political career is over.
The candidate says he plans to focus on "some film projects that look good" for the next few years. Hasan got his masters degree, with an emphasis in film directing, from California’s Chapman University in 2007; his first film, Rabia, a short about a female suicide bomber, made the film festival rounds this year in Colorado and elsewhere.
"I will definitely run again, but that could be anywhere from five to ten years from now," he says. "For the time being -- I might be writing political commentary again for the Vail Daily and I'm also working on a book about how the GOP needs to change and what ways it should change -- if possible." – Jonathan Shikes