‘I’m Converted’: GOP Candidate In Niqab Says She’s Totally A Conservative Now

The sole Republican candidate running for North Carolina’s 22nd state Senate district is turning heads after donning a Niqab-style face veil in her candidate photo and voting for Democrats in past elections despite her new GOP candidacy.

LaKeshia Mashonda Ruddi Alston is the lone Republican candidate running for a spot in North Carolina’s 22nd district state Senate, facing two Democratic challengers for the position. A Durham, North Carolina, voter since 2008 based on publicly available filings, Alston voted for Democratic candidates twice in 2012 and once in 2024, before voting for a Republican candidate in the October 2025 primary election.

Alston told the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation regarding her Republican candidacy that “hen I was a child I thought as a child, but as I matured. I’m converted as a Republican. In order to form a more Perfect Union.” Alston, as previously noted, voted for a Democrat only one year previous to her new GOP candidacy. Alston signed the email with the phrase, “Transforming the Masses”.

Alston did not respond to the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for further comment on her candidacy.

LeKeshia Alston voting records, via North Carolina State Board of Elections website

Robert Burns, mayor of Monroe, NC—population