Excerpt:
Republican Ted Cruz's presidential campaign is rejecting a call to drop an anti-Shariah activist as his state chairman for Tennessee.
Kevin Kookogey, a former chairman of the Williamson County GOP, has criticized Republican Gov. Bill Haslam over the role of a Muslim staffer and a council that has advised two state departments on Islamic affairs.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations says keeping Kookogey would serve as what the group called "an endorsement of anti-Muslim hate."