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After a contentious race, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud defeated his opponent by a wide margin, engineer Nagi Almudhegi, unofficial results show.
Hammoud won with 71.4% of the vote, while Almudhegi got 28.1% with all of the 33 precincts and absentee ballots counted, according to unofficial results shared Wednesday morning, Nov. 5, with the Free Press by Dearborn City Clerk George Darany.
Dearborn City Council President Michael Sareini was the top vote-getter among the 13 candidates running for council, garnering 12.4% of the votes and will remain council president. The six other council candidates who also earned seats for a four-year term are: Councilmen Kamal Alsawafy,10%; Mustapha Hammoud, 9.5%; Robert Abraham, 8.8%; Ken Paris, 8%; Gary Enos, 7.5%, and newcomer Devon O’Reilly, 7.3%, a son of former Mayor John O’Reilly. Devon O’Reilly was arrested for drunken driving in 2016. Some had accused Mayor O’Reilly of getting special treatment for his son in the case, which the late mayor strongly denied to the Free Press at the time.
Darany, up for reelection, fended off a challenge by Sami Elhady, defeating him by 54.8% to 44.6%. And voters soundly rejected a controversial wards proposal that would have expanded the number of council seats to nine and assign them by geographic wards, with 71% voting against it and 29% voting in favor. Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office had previously said the proposal was “defective” in its language, while proponents said it would have increased democracy and diversity. The Yemeni American community, which has struggled to gain political power in the city, failed to win a seat on the council in Tuesday’s election despite several candidates of Yemeni descent on the ballot.
Voter turnout in Dearborn was 34.3%, with 26,926 voters casting ballots, out of which 25,953 were cast for mayor.
Hammoud claimed victory in posts on Instagram, including one he shared with TCD, a media site that works with the city, and another posted at about 11 p.m. that read: “Thank you, Dearborn. This victory belongs to every resident who believes in our city and its future. Dearborn is strong because we stand together. A city that welcomes all, supports all, and lifts all. The promise of progress continues. Let’s keep building.”
In a concession speech delivered at 10:50 p.m. Nov. 4, Almudhegi congratulated Hammoud.
“The hallmark of this great country is the ability to choose our leadership in a peaceful, democratic fashion and the people of Dearborn have spoken,” Almudhegi said in his speech, livestreamed on his Facebook page. “Therefore, I would like to congratulate Mayor Abdullah Hammoud on this victory tonight. And I want to thank all of you, the volunteers who worked tirelessly during these last few weeks.”
Saying that George Washington is one of his heroes, Almudhegi was overcome with emotion as he spoke about those who supported him, saying: “I’ve cultivated friends and memories that will last a lifetime. … God bless you, God bless Dearborn and God bless America.”
After a contentious race for mayor, voters in Dearborn flocked to the polls Tuesday to determine who will lead the state’s seventh largest city.
Hammoud, 35, challenged by Almudhegi, 51, an engineer and IT manager who had vowed to bring “common sense” to government if elected and crack down on what he describes was wasteful spending. Crime was another big issue during the campaign, with both candidates saying they will be tough on criminals and reckless drivers. Census data shows the city has lost population during Hammoud’s first term as Almudhegi raised concerns about blight.
“We ran four years ago on the promise of progress,” Hammoud said in a livestream Tuesday morning at a poll site at Haigh Elementary School. “We’ve made so much progress.”
Hammoud touted the city’s “investments in parks, our investments in traffic safety, our investments in public safety, our commitment to ensure the lowest tax rate in 15 years.”
The final week of the race saw a flurry of social media posts, text messages and WhatsApp discussions that at times were polarizing, but both candidates sought to stress unity and bringing the city together. More than $900,000 was raised by candidates in the race. Some text messages sent to voters over the past week contained anti-Lebanese messages that were criticized by both sides. Hammoud is of Lebanese descent. The anti-Lebanese messages received by some voters claimed there’s a Lebanese political establishment in the city. One of them urged people to vote for Almudhegi, misspelling his name. Almudhegi strongly condemned the anti-Lebanese messages, saying in a statement on Facebook: “These texts did not come from our campaign, and we completely condemn their content and intent. To be clear, our campaign has never sent any political text messages.”
Almudhegi said in the message that his “campaign stands for unity, fairness, and progress for all Dearborn residents, regardless of background, faith, political views, or neighborhood.” He also said the “rumors claiming that Nagi intends to cancel the annual Ashura March … is completely false.” The Ashura march is a Shia religious procession organized by the Lebanese American community that takes place annually in Dearborn.
The issue of faith and LGBTQ+ issues became part of the mayoral and council campaigns, with both candidates clarifying their views to voters. Almudhegi has accused Hammoud of being divisive when he berated a Christian minister who complained about a prominent Arab American leader having a street named after him. Hammoud maintains he speaks out against bigotry. Three years ago, Almudhegi spoke out against some LGBTQ+ books in Dearborn Public Schools he said were too sexually explicit for children.
Race for mayor in Dearborn Heights
In neighboring Dearborn Heights, Mayor Mo Baydoun, listed as Mohamad Baydoun in Wayne County campaign finance records, ran against Councilwoman Denise Malinowski Maxwell. Baydoun, previously council chair, became mayor in October after former Mayor Bill Bazzi was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be ambassador to Tunisia and then resigned. Baydoun will served the remainder of Bazzi’s term, which is until the end of this year. The election is for a four-year term that starts in January.
With all 15 precincts reporting, Baydoun received 68% of the vote to Maxwell’s 32%, according to Wayne County results. In the race for council, the four winners out of five candidates were Council Chair Hassan Ahmad, who will remain council chair; Councilwoman Nancy Bryer; newcomer Margaret King, and Councilman Tom Wencel. For treasurer, voters reelected incumbent Lisa Hicks-Clayton.
Baydoun had not filed his post-primary and pre-general campaign finance reports as of Monday afternoon, a spokesman for the Wayne County Clerk’s Office told the Free Press. There is no public record of how much money Baydoun has received and who he got it from over the past three months. He had raised $210,297 as of late July, a high amount for the small suburb of 60,663 residents. Baydoun did not return messages seeking comment.
Maxwell received a reporting waiver on Oct. 24 from Wayne County Clerk’s Office because the amount raised or spent did go above the threshold. She had donated $8,000 earlier this year to her own campaign, records show. She later transferred $4,000 from her council campaign account to her mayoral account.
Five candidates ran for four council seats in Dearborn Heights, and two ran for treasurer. Both of those positions are four-year terms.
Hamtramck race for mayor has 11-vote margin
In Hamtramck, only 11 votes separated the two candidates for mayor, according to unofficial results provided to the Free Press by Clerk Rana Faraj.
Adam Alharbi, an immigrant from Yemen who works on patents for the Commerce Department, got 2,009 votes, or 44.5% of the vote, while his opponent, Councilman Muhith Mahmood, got 1,998 votes, or 44.3%. Write-ins got 502 votes; A previous council candidate, Lynn Blasey was running as a write-in mayoral candidate.
“Please note that these are unofficial results,” Faraj told the Free Press in a written statement. “Due to the close margin in the mayoral race, the final outcome may change pending canvassing.”
Voters also decided three council seats. One of the candidates, Councilman Aebu Musa, is under investigation for residency fraud, which he strongly denied Tuesday to the Free Press while outside Hamtramck High School, a polling site. Unofficial results show Musa was the top vote-getter, with 1,645 votes, or 16.8% of the vote, followed by former Councilman Nayeem Choudhury, with 1,634 votes, or 16.7% of the vote; political newcomer Yousuf Saed got 1,437 votes, or 14.7%.
Voters headed to the polls to decide on a new mayor after Mayor Amer Ghalib was picked by President Donald Trump to be ambassador to Kuwait. After a bruising Senate confirmation hearing, it’s unclear if Ghalib will be confirmed.
Alharbi was Ghalib’s previous campaign manager. Mahmood is under investigation for residency fraud by Michigan State Police.
Alharbi, who supported Trump for president last year, and Ghalib reached out to Republicans and evangelical Christians in 2023, helping form a coalition of Arab Americans and Muslims who backed the Republican nominee for president in 2024. Mahmood endorsed Kamala Harris.
Two other councilmen, who were not on Tuesday’s ballot, were recently charged for alleged absentee ballot fraud.
Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com, X @nwarikoo or Facebook @nwarikoo
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Just 11 votes separate Hamtramck mayoral race; Hammoud wins reelection bid in Dearborn
Reporting by Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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