Alpine’s Islamic fashionista antes up for Clinton

Democrat Hillary Clinton bumped up her San Diego county fundraising game last month, collecting a total of $520,590 from county residents, compared to a July take of $435,595, according to a computer analysis of the ex-Secretary of State's latest federal campaign disclosure data, filed September 20.

On the other hand, the San Diego take of Donald Trump, Clinton's Republican foe in the race for the presidency, fell sharply from $357,362 in July to $174,905 in August.

Both candidates drew heavily from well-to-do parts of the county, with La Jolla furnishing $84,805 for Clinton, and $10,184 to Trump. Rancho Santa Fe gave a total of $26,853 to Trump, with Clinton pulling in $22,778.

Among those on Clinton’s side of the La Jolla ledger was internet entrepreneur Roger Abbott, with $2700. Giving the same was Democratic San Diego city council hopeful Barbara Bry — now running unopposed after the GOP's Ray Ellis dropped out of the race, citing Trump's drag on the local Republican ticket.

Other Clinton donors included retired city hall lobbyist Paul Peterson; and Donald Rosenberg, an executive vice president with Qualcomm, cofounded by billionaire Clinton backer Irwin Jacobs who has raised millions of dollars for both Clinton and her husband, ex-president Bill Clinton.

Yet another $2700 Clinton donor, according to the disclosure report, was Alpine's Sarah Ansari, founder and CEO of Artizara, which specializes in "trendy, high quality Islamic clothing for women, men and kids."

Says the website of the firm, founded in 2002: "The reality is that although Islamic and Muslim clothing does have a common set of rules and guidelines that govern it, Islamic attire and Muslim wear can be as varied as the person wearing it."

According to Artizara, "Muslim women living in the west have the hardest time finding clothes that pass the Islamic attire test, while still being attractive and practical for their busy everyday lives. And not surprisingly, we also see that many Muslim women show the most ingenuity and creativity in how they mix-n-match and combine pieces they find in mainstream stores, together with especially designed pieces of Islamic wear, into outfits that are modest, beautifully delightful, and say Islamic fashion loud and clear."

Ansari, who is Muslim, told the Washington Post in a 2005 interview that her clientele came from a variety of ages and backgrounds.

"I don't think there's anything in Islam that precludes women from looking attractive or professional. No one says you have to look like a bag lady. Actually, the Prophet [Muhammad] was known for wearing perfume, being clean and very well dressed," she told the paper

"Many men display their Muslim fashion sense by sticking with their best western style shirts, pants or a full suit, while others take it in the ethnic direction with a long caftan or a traditional galabiyya and kufi hat," says Artizara’s website.

$2700 Trump donors last month, according to disclosure records, included San Diego's Richard Woltman, a onetime executive for the late fallen banker C. Arnholt Smith, who was a friend and political funder of GOP president Richard Nixon. Jay Flatley, CEO of genetic sequence machine maker Illumina, gave the same, as did Rancho Santa Fe real estate maven John Peck.

Another $2700 Trump giver was Rafael Galicot, whose brother Gregorio was listed as kicking in $5400 for the campaign in July.

The pair, scions of a wealthy Tijuana, Mexico family, operate Otay Mesa–based BBG Communications, an international telephone services operation that critics say has unfairly gouged U.S. service members making telephone calls from Europe. The company has denied the charges.