Important races in the November 7 municipal elections
On Tuesday, November 7, municipal elections will be held in several cities in the greater Detroit area, most notably Warren and Westland, where a new mayor will be elected for each of the two cities, in addition to two races for three city council seats in Dearborn Heights and Hamtramck.

Important races in the November 7 municipal elections

Posted: Friday 11.03.2023 11:15 am Elections, Local, Local Election

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On Tuesday, November 7, municipal elections will be held in several cities in the Metro Detroit area, most notably Warren and Westland, where a new mayor will be elected in each city, in addition to two races for three City Council seats in Dearborn Heights and Hamtramck.

Tight competition for three City Council seats in Dearborn Heights

In Dearborn Heights, five candidates are competing for three seats on the City Council after Councilman Ray Muscat withdrew from the race despite his victory in the primary election in August. The competing candidates include two current members, Mo Baydoun and Zuhair Abdelhak, who was appointed to the position temporarily last month, to complete Muscat’s term, which ends early next year. Muscat suddenly decided to resign a few days after his victory in the primary election, but his name will appear on the ballot despite his withdrawal from the race.

The list of candidates that will appear on the November ballot also includes former Council President Denise Malinowski-Maxwell and Arab Americans Hassan Saab and Ahmed Al-Kaabi. The Dearborn Heights City Council consists of seven members and is currently headed by Councilman Dave Abdallah, who decided not to seek re-election. The August primary election resulted in Baydoun leading the race with 3,593 votes, ahead of Malinowski-Maxwell (3,097), Muscat (2,647), Abdelhak (1,252), Saab (1,218) and Al-Kaabi (733), while three candidates were eliminated: Wissam Fadlallah (685 votes), Hussein Mazloum (404) and Muhammad Jani (166).

In Hamtramck six candidates are vying for three seats
In Hamtramck, six candidates are competing for three seats on the six-member City Council. Incumbent Council members Mohammed Alsomiri, Nayeem Choudhury and Mohammed Hassan are facing Nasr Hussein, Muhtasim Sadman and Lynn Blasey. If Blasey wins a seat she will be the only City Council member who isn’t a Muslim. Blasey is a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community.
A week before the election, Nasr Hussein sparked a whirlwind of criticism because of a post he made on Facebook in which he said that the Nazi Holocaust was a preemptive punishment from God for the war crimes that Israel is committing against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. 
“Was the Holocaust a prior punishment from God to the ‘Chosen People’ for the brutality they are committing today against innocent Palestinian children and civilians?” he asked. “It is a heinous act that proves that they are as barbaric and cruel as the Nazis themselves, or even worse.”
Choudhury led the August primary election results with 858 votes, followed by Alsomiri (853), Blasey (813), Hassan (809), Sadman (689) and Hussein (427), while Youssef Saeed (395 votes), Sari Ahmed (291) and Ruhail Amin (113) were eliminated.
Warren to elect a new mayor
State Rep. Lori Stone is facing off against George Dimas, director of Warren’s human resources department, in an intense competition for the mayoralty of the city, which has a population of approximately 137,000 people, and is considered the third most populous city in the state after Detroit and Grand Rapids. The winner will succeed incumbent Mayor James Fouts, who was banned from running for a fifth four-year term. A judicial decision from the Michigan Supreme Court noted that Fouts, 80, has been the mayor of Warren since 2007.
Dimas — supported by Fouts — led the August primary election by obtaining 33.5 percent of the votes, compared to 27.5 percent for Stone, who came in second, 237 votes ahead of her closest opponent, City Council President Patrick Green, who is considered one of Fouts’ fiercest opponents. Green received 26.2 percent of the votes.
Westland to elect a new mayor
Voters in Westland are also preparing to elect their first new mayor since 2007, with State Rep. Kevin Coleman running against interim Mayor Mike Londeau, who was appointed to the position to complete the term of former Mayor Bill Wild. Wild led the city for 15 years before resigning at the beginning of this year.
Londeau was a member of the Westland City Council before his appointment as mayor last January. He led the August primary race with 44.5 percent of the votes, compared to 41.1 percent for Coleman, while four other candidates were eliminated, most notably City Councilman Jim Godbout.
If Stone and Coleman — both Democrats — win their respective races the Democrats will lose their slim majority in the Michigan House of Representatives, as their number of seats will fall from 56 to 54, which is the same number of seats controlled by Republicans in the 110-seat chamber.
Other races in November
Among the other most prominent races that will be held Tuesday, November 7, are the mayoral elections in Melvindale, Riverview and Eastpointe, in addition to the City Clerk race in Southfield.
This year Michigan began a pilot program that allow voters to vote early in person by casting their ballots in specific centers, in preparation for generalizing the experiment in the 2024 elections.
Early voting started in some cities on October 28 and will continue until Election Day.

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