DEARBORN — With less than four weeks to go until the general elections on November 6, 19th District Court Judge candidate Sam Salamey is shifting his campaign into high gear, capitalizing on the strong momentum built from his primary victory in August, which has since landed him an endorsement from AAPAC, who earlier this week announced that they will be officially supporting Salamey by including him on their Election Day slate. But despite these strong advantages, which also includes an official endorsement from Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly, Salamey and his campaign team are still relying heavily on grassroots efforts in order to ensure a victory come Election Day.

But despite the significance of Salamey being the first Arab-American judge in Dearborn, his campaign tells us that Dearborn voters should support his seat not for that reason, but because he is the most qualified candidate for the job. The campaign has even reached out to primary opponent Candyce Abbatt’s supporters, hoping that they would see Salamey as a reliable candidate despite Abbatt’s loss in August.

With a group of over 75 volunteers, Salamey has recruited campaigners who have been knocking on doors in Dearborn, in an effort to remind residents to come out to the polls on Election Day. Another part of the grassroots initiative is to inform residents that beginning on October 9, the city clerk’s office at city hall has begun accepting absentee ballots for those who wish to cast their votes ahead of time. Salamey’s campaigners say if they have enough early votes leading up to the election, it could give Salamey an early advantage going into November. 

“The fight is not over, we have a lot of work ahead of us. So we are urging everybody to go cast their vote early at the city clerk’s office,” said Renee Hadi, a door-to-door knocker. 

The campaign is hoping they can spread the message to at least 1,000 voters who could potentially use absentee ballots as their form of voting. Salamey’s campaign is hoping to get the word out to Muslims who will be heading to Mecca this month for Hajj, many of whom aren’t expected to return until late November. Salamey says the biggest challenge of the campaign still remains trying to get people to go out and vote. 

“Getting people out to vote is the main challenge and everything else will take a back seat. Our campaign is a city wide initiative and I personally have conducted a door to door campaign covering 41 out of the 50 precincts up to this point in Dearborn. Interacting and introducing myself to voters has by far been the most rewarding aspect about the campaign up to this point,” Salamey said. 

Reminding people to vote won’t be the only initiative for Salamey’s campaign however. They are also reminding residents to chose the right candidate, as incumbent Richard Wygonik, who will be Salamey’s opponent on Election Day, could still provide serious competition. Salamey doesn’t stray away from discussing some important changes he would like to make at the 19th District court, informing residents that he would work on unifying Dearborn’s courthouse if elected Judge, in an effort to put a stop on some of the internal bickering that he says has left the court scattered.  

At the AAPAC “Meet the Candidates” night held at Byblos Banquets last week, Wygonik told the crowd that some of the changes he helped bring to the 19th District Court included eliminating a court administrator due to pressures to cut down on costs. But Salamey says there are other key issues at the courtroom that need to be reassessed and addressed, in order to avoid distractions and road blocks which have included lawsuits and internal bickering in the past few years.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s being portrayed that the court administrator is the source of the court’s problems. I believe the root of the problem is the internal bickering between the judges, the personal agendas and personality clashes which has demoralized the court employees and caused lawsuits, disrupting the normal performance of the court and distracting them from the main focus,” Salamey added. 

Instead Salamey says he would like to work on unifying the courthouse,  stating the system would function more smoothly if everyone was on the same page.

“It’s unfortunate that we have three courts in one building when we should have three judges working together in one court. The lack of uniformity and the breakdown of communications, which have resulted in ongoing accusations and counter-accusations, is the real culpirit at the court. There is a lot of work that needs to be done in the court to restore its reputation and respect, and to revive the concept of team work and making sure that criminals are deterred from repeating criminal acts in Dearborn. This is a major objective that I would like to work on,” Salamey stated.

But first Salamey must win the race before he can tackle these problems. Many of his grassroots campaigners will include college students, who along with Salamey, will be hitting some unmarked territories in the city of Dearborn this month, which includes gated neighborhoods and senior citizen homes.

“I’m so motivated to help Sam Salamey win and be on the right side of history as we elect him as the first Arab American judge in Dearborn,” campaigner Jenan Zeghir stated. 

But despite the significance of Salamey being the first Arab American judge in Dearborn if elected, his campaign tells us that Dearborn voters should support his candidacy not for that reason, but because he is the most qualified candidate for the job. The campaign has even reached out to primary opponent Candyce Abbatt’s supporters, hoping that they would see Salamey as a reliable candidate after Abbatt’s loss in August.

“We are so close to achieving a huge accomplishment and I ask for everyone in Dearborn to vote for the candidate that is the most qualified, the most deserving and the best choice for Dearborn Judge. Please go out and cast your vote for Sam Salamey,” Mallak Beydoun, Salamey’s campaign manager stated. 

For voters who will not be able to vote on Election Day, absentee ballot voting is being accepted at city hall from Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. until November 2nd. Additionally, city hall will be open on Saturday, November 3rd from 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. to accept absentee votes as well. Voters are asked to bring their drivers license.