DEARBORN — Despite lower turnouts across the board, the Primary elections ended on a positive note for the Arab and Muslim American communities in Dearborn and Hamtramck.

Attracting the majority of the attention in Dearborn was the city council race, which saw three first-time Arab American city council candidates advance to the November elections. Those candidates are Mike Sareini, Susan Dabaja and Tarek Baydoun, who generated plenty of attention, with campaigners stationed across all of Dearborn’s 50 precincts.

But what seemed missing, however, were actual voters. By mid-day, it had become evident that the Primary had been moving at a slower pace than last year’s race. 

At two precincts, located at William Ford Elementary School, near Ford and Chase roads in east Dearborn, less than 85 voters, combined, had turned out by 3 p.m. Those numbers could be considered fairly dismal, when factoring in that close to 2,000 registered voters belong to both precincts. 

Rose Alabed, an election volunteer at William Ford Elementary, says that she was disappointed with the voter turnout, but also pointed out that many of the city council candidates didn’t release enough information about the initiatives that they plan on pursing if they’re elected.

“This is about the future of our children, and that’s why it’s so important for people in the community to come out and vote,” said Alabed.

A slow Primary was forecasted by some; Ramadan may have played a factor in the turnout rates on the east end of town. With many residents partaking in the observance of the month by fasting, it may have been more difficult for them to come out and vote. 

Plenty of efforts were put forth by the campaigns of Sareini, Dabaja and Baydoun by late afternoon, to try to make up for the shortage of voters. Some campaigners began knocking on doors to urge residents to come out and vote at their local precincts, while other volunteers took even greater measures.

“I have been knocking on doors and driving people to precincts all day long in east Dearborn. Susan Dabaja and Tarek Baydoun owe me three tanks of gas,” Renee Hadi, a campaigner, quipped.

High school and college students had a major presence at the polls this year.  Many of them campaigned specifically for the three candidates. Members of the Arab Student Union chapters from the University of Michigan-Dearborn (UMD), Wayne State University and Fordson High School, campaigned at the majority of the precincts in Dearborn.

“We had a heavy involvement, representing Tarek Baydoun and Susan Dabaja, across east and west Dearborn, and we even had translators as well. The community needs to understand that this is their City and this is their community, so it’s important that we all work together,” says Fareed Shalhout, President of the ASU at UMD.

Even on the west side, which has demonstrated to have some of the City’s largest voter turnouts in the past, had less than impressive numbers. At the Edsel Ford High School precinct, only 111 voters turned out by 7 p.m. The poll workers there told The Arab American News that it was a pretty quiet day, but they did receive a large amount of absentee votes. 

Jihad El-Zayat, who campaigned in the evening at Edsel Ford for Mike Sareini, says that he was disappointed by the lack of traffic at that precinct. 

“Even though it’s only the primary, and turn out is not typically high, I was actually disappointed. I can honestly say I did not see one Arab American come out from the time that I was here at this precinct. I definitely think all three of the candidates [Sareini, Dabaja and Baydoun] are equally qualified and deserve to get elected. I hope that the Salina precinct had a bigger turn out than here,” El-Zayat stated. 

El-Zayat’s hopes appeared to have manifested. As the evening drew to a close at the Salina precinct, campaigners there stated that, despite a slow start in the morning, they actually had a pretty decent overall turnout. Abdul Al-Haj, who campaigned from opening to close, says that he was delighted to see strong community outpour there.  

“I think everybody that walked in to vote at this precinct was definitely here to support the Arab candidates. Ramadan may have been a factor early in the morning, where barely anybody showed up, but after the second prayer was over with, more people began coming out. I think we did better than the last Primary election at this precinct,” Al-Haj stated.

But things didn’t look as optimistic over at the two McDonald Elementary School precincts. Last year, that precinct ended up with the highest voter turnouts during the primary in east Dearborn, with 623 votes cast at both precincts. This year, those numbers shifted downward. Only 337 total votes were cast by the evening’s end. 

Jackline Zaidan, who has been campaigning at the McDonald precincts for years, said that she was surprised that the slew of new Arab American candidates didn’t bring out more voters. 

“It seems very subdued this time around. I know some of them began knocking on doors, but people were just too tired. I’m sure Ramadan played a factor, but I thought it would be busier, because of all the candidates involved. I thought that might have pulled more people out,” said Zaidan.

According to information, provided by the City, of the 61,120 registered voters, 11,795 ballots were cast, or roughly 19 percent of the eligible voting population. While a primary election does attract a smaller turnout, other contributing factors for the smaller figures may include the fact that there were no statewide proposals on the ballot, and the fact that the Dearborn mayoral race, in and of itself, was a shoe-in.

Mayor Jack O’Reilly easily advanced to the general election in a landslide. With 8,592 votes, his closest opponent was Edward Binkley, who came in a distant second with only 989 votes. Binkley will have a lot of ground to cover, in order to be considered a serious contender on the November ballot.

Two of the top three vote-getters in the city council race, Sareini and Dabaja, surprisingly placed ahead of several city council incumbents, who were seeking re-election and were endorsed by Mayor O’Reilly, including Mark C. Shooshanian, Brian C. O’Donnell, Robert Alex Abraham and David Bazzy, all of whom will also move on to the November ballot.

Mike Sareini came in second on the ballot, receiving 5,302 votes.  While a first-time candidate, he received plenty of support from his mother’s base, current council woman Suzanne Sareini, who has served on the city council since 1989 and announced her retirement this year, with hopes of her son filling her position.

Along with an AAPAC endorsement and an endorsement from Mayor O’Reilly, Sareini was only 300 votes shy of being the top vote-getter. That spot went to current city council president Thomas Patrick Tafelski, who had 5,637 votes.

“I recognize my work has just begun. I will continue walking our neighborhoods, knocking doors and listening to your concerns. I am confident I will continue to gain support in my goal to represent you in November,” Sareini stated. 

Perhaps considered to be the breakout candidate of the evening, Susan Dabaja’s third place ranking left many locals impressed. She received 4,696 votes without any major endorsements, besides AAPAC. Dabaja’s ranking solidifies her appeal to voters across the board; an impressive feat for a relatively unknown candidate, who is new to the political scene.

Dabaja, who was seen campaigning during the Primary at the Salina precinct, said that she had spent the entire summer going door-to-door in both the east and west sides of the City. She thanked her campaigners, many of whom had been fasting, stating that their presence contributed to her success in the Primary.

“Our campaign is overwhelmed with the outpouring of support we have received. We thank everybody for the tireless amount of hours they’ve dedicated and, with your help, we look forward to hopefully winning in the November elections,” Dabaja’s campaign stated. 

Dabaja’s campaign capped off the evening at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center in Dearborn, along with Tarek Baydoun’s campaign, which also had a reason to celebrate. Baydoun landed in ninth place, with 3,308 votes, also impressive for a first-time candidate.

Baydoun says that his campaign made plenty of efforts to inform voters to come out during the Primary, including robo-calls, text messages, emails, and mailers to all Arab American households. He is optimistic that the picture will look even brighter this November. 

“I think people being less tired in November will definitely help. I am a first-time candidate, so I’ve learned a lot today, and hopefully adjustments can be made, so that we can see what worked and what didn’t. From there, we can adjust properly as we move forward into November,” said Baydoun. “I’d like to thank all of the Dearborn residents who came out and supported our campaign. We especially thank each and every one of the over 500 volunteers and donors that have helped our campaign thus far.” 

While the overall feeling was that the community’s participation could have been stronger, it is notable that all seven AAPAC endorsed city council candidates received enough votes to advance to the November election, including the top four vote-getting candidates. This fact helps to predict how important the Arab vote can be with regards to results in the City. 

The remaining candidates advancing to the November election, who were endorsed by AAPAC, are Patrick Melton, Jane Ahern and Kristyn Taylor.

In what could perhaps be considered the biggest victory of them all, the community of Hamtramck also celebrated a major win during the Primary. Yemeni American Hamtramck Mayoral Candidate Dr. Abdul Algazali, who also received an AAPAC endorsement, managed to beat the City’s current mayor, Karen Majewski with 731 votes, compared to her 670 votes.

Having served two terms as city council president, Algazali is hoping to make history in the City, by becoming the first Arab American mayor there. That feat could perhaps be viewed as a long overdue accomplishment for the community, which is comprised of a 60-70% Muslim population.