AUSTIN — A leading conservative in the Texas House has drawn fire for highlighting the fact a Euless City Council candidate is a Muslim who he warns would bring "massive changes" to the suburban Tarrant County city.

On Monday, Bedford Republican Rep. Jonathan Stickland said on Facebook that Euless residents should "beware" that Salman Bhojani is part of "a slate of progressive liberals in our non-partisan city council elections."

Stickland said Bhojani is "a Muslim, lawyer, and a lifelong Democrat who supports raising your taxes."

Stickland, who is a member of the Texas Freedom Caucus in the House, linked to a video that he said in a brief interview Thursday is posted on Bhojani's campaign website.

It shows a TV news story, apparently airing overseas and in another language, about how a Muslim Boy Scout troop presented the American flag and apparently recited from the Quran at the start of a March 2017 Euless City Council meeting.

It was "thanks to Mr. Bhojani," Stickland said, that "the Koran was read for the first time at a city council meeting."

According to a story Wednesday by KXAS-TV (NBC5), the passage of the Quran spoke of having an openness to different religions.

"I don't think that by itself is something that means he's unfit for office," Stickland told the TV station. "But what I think is this is just a foreshadowing of some of the massive changes that he would like to see in the city of Euless."

On Thursday, Texas Democratic Party communications director Tariq Thowfeek called Stickland's remarks "disappointing."

They were a reminder that "much work remains to expel Islamophobia in Texas," Thowfeek said in a written statement.

"Salman Bhojani's story is that of America," the Democratic spokesman said. "He immigrated here, worked hard going from convenience store clerk to respected business owner and lawyer. Our country, our state, and the city of Euless are better for having citizens like Salman. There's no religious test to serve in America or Texas. Stickland should read our constitution."

Stickland did not immediately respond to Thowfeek's criticism.

In his Monday post, Stickland took other shots at Bhojani.

"His ideas for our community would scare a majority of our residents, but he is very sneaky in how he presents himself," Stickland said in his Facebook post. "He already has numerous campaign finance violations. This includes taking campaign money from a foreign national and breaking Federal law. He must be stopped."

Bhojani told NBC5, though, that he received one contribution from a Canadian citizen and that as soon as he recognized the error, he returned the money and reported the problem to local, state and federal officials, the station reported.

Stickland, who was first elected in 2012, is a darling of the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party and a frequent critic of House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, who he says is too moderate and heavy-handed in his running of the chamber.

Thowfeek said Stickland's latest remarks are part of a GOP pattern.

"From the White House to Texas, Republicans in the era of Trump, such as Molly White, Sid Miller, and Jonathan Stickland, have mainstreamed Islamophobic rhetoric," he said. "They have made Muslims in this state feel like no matter what they do, they're going to be under suspicion and under attack. Texans will not be bystanders to bigotry."

On Thursday, Stickland went after Bhojani for allegedly trying to obscure his Democratic ties. However, although Stickland said Bhojani in the NBC5 story denied having been a "lifelong Democrat," that statement by the city council hopeful did not appear in this version of the station's story.