By Holly Bailey
Nevada GOP Senate nominee Sharron Angle told a rally of tea party supporters last week that two American cities - Dearborn, Mich., and Frankford, Texas - operate under Islamic religious law.
"We're talking about a militant terrorist situation -- which I believe isn't a widespread problem, but it is enough that we need to address, and we have been addressing it," Angle said, according to audio provided to the Washington Post's Greg Sargent. "First of all, Dearborn, Mich., and Frankford, Texas, are on American soil and under constitutional law. Not sharia law. And I don't know how that happened in the United States."
In an interview with the Associated Press' Cristina Silva, Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly called Angle's comments "shameful" and "totally irresponsible." But that's not Angle's only problem: Frankford doesn't actually exist. As CNN reports, the former city in central Texas was annexed to Dallas in 1975. The only thing that's there now: an Episcopal church and cemetery.
An Angle spokesman did not return emails seeking comment, and the candidate has not offered any further explanation for why she said what she did. It's only the latest in a series of controversial statements made by the tea-party-backed GOP nominee in the closely watched contest.
Yet in spite of the controversy, Angle remains virtually tied with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the race. A recent CNN/Time Magazine poll of likely voters in the race found Angle narrowly leading Reid, 42 percent to 40 percent - well within the poll's margin of error. Of those polled, 10 percent say they want "none of the above."
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