DEARBORN — For the first time in the city’s nearly 100-year history, Dearborn will not hold primary elections this August for its municipal races. All candidates will automatically advance to the general election on Tuesday, November 4, where voters will decide the next mayor, seven City Council members and the city clerk.

According to the Dearborn City Charter, a primary election is only triggered if the number of candidates exceeds twice the number of open seats. This threshold was not met this year, as confirmed by the list of candidates obtained by The Arab American News.

The mayoral race features only two candidates: incumbent Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, who is seeking a second four-year term, and Nagi Almudhegi. A third candidate, Ghassan Tarraf, withdrew before the April 25 deadline.

The city clerk race will also move directly to the general election in November and includes incumbent City Clerk George Darany, who has held the position since early 2016, and challenger Sami Elhady.

The City Council race has 13 candidates running for seven open seats, each with a four-year term. All current council members except Councilwoman Leslie Herrick are running for re-election. Herrick was excluded from the ballot due to an unpaid $800 campaign finance fee dating back to 2017. She may still appear on the November ballot as a write-in candidate, according to a statement she gave to The Arab American News.

In addition to the six incumbents, seven new challengers are running:

• Othman Ali Alaansi

• Mark Andrew

• Shadi Mawari

• Mohammed Shagera

• Mubarek Ahmed

• Sharon Dulmage

• Devon O’Reilly (son of the late Mayor Jack O’Reilly)

The current City Council includes:

• Michael T. Sareini (president)

• Kamal Alsawafy

• Mustapha Hammoud

• Gary A. Enos

• Ken Paris

• Robert A. Abraham

All are set to advance directly to the general election, since the total number of candidates is below the 14-candidate threshold that would mandate a primary election.

Darany issued a press release stating that the August 5 primary will not be held in Dearborn due to an “insufficient number of candidates.” Voters will instead cast their ballots in the Nov. 5 general election.

“This is certainly a surprise,” Darany said. “Over the years, we’ve typically had a large number of residents eager to serve in municipal government, which often led to primaries in all the races — especially for mayor and City Council.”

Darany added that the initial candidate pool included four for mayor and 16 for the Council, but four were disqualified due to incomplete applications or eligibility issues, and Tarraf withdrew voluntarily.

He noted that candidate participation has been on a steady decline over the past four decades.

“I remember when the number of City Council candidates in the 1980s would reach 30 in the primaries,” he said.

Despite recent drops in participation, Darany stated the number of candidates usually still triggered primaries. In 2009 and 2013, more than 20 people ran for City Council. In 2017, five candidates ran for mayor. In 2021, seven vied for the mayoral post, including Hammoud, who won the race.

Dearborn, incorporated in 1928, holds its municipal elections every four years.