DEARBORN – Results of Tuesday’s municipal elections confirmed Dearborn residents’ satisfaction with the performance of current city officials, foremost among them Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, who won a sweeping victory with more than 71 percent of the vote. Voters also rejected by a nearly identical margin a proposal to divide Dearborn into seven Council districts (wards).

Voter confidence extended beyond Hammoud, who faced a broad smear campaign in the final weeks of the race, to City Council President Mike Sareini, who topped the City Council race, positioning him to remain at the head of the Council for the next four years.

Voters also renewed their trust in all incumbent Council members who ran to keep their seats, while also choosing Devon O’Reilly, the son of the late Mayor Jack O’Reilly, to fill the seat of current member Leslie Herrick, who was disqualified from the race for failing to pay outstanding campaign-related fees.

As a result, the incoming Council will be completely without women for the first time since 1947, when Margaret Johnson became the first woman elected to the seven-member body.

Citywide turnout on Tuesday was relatively good compared to previous municipal elections (held every four years), reaching 34.31 percent of 78,482 registered voters.

A landslide victory for Mayor Hammoud

Unofficial final results from Tuesday’s election showed a decisive win for Mayor Hammoud over his sole challenger in a race that, for the first time in city history, did not include a primary due to the lack of additional candidates, reflecting Hammoud’s broad popularity.

Hammoud received 18,531 votes to challenger Nagi Almudhegi’s 7,294.

In a clear sign of voter approval, Hammoud’s total this cycle exceeded his 2021 tally by 5,496 votes.

Hammoud defeated his opponent across all voting methods, in-person, early and absentee.

In detail, Hammoud received 2,010 early votes, 5,063 absentee votes and 11,458 Election Day votes; Almudhegi received 1,062 early votes, 2,129 absentee votes and 4,103 votes cast at polling places on Tuesday.

As the first returns came in Tuesday evening, Hammoud delivered a victory speech at a campaign celebration held at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center in East Dearborn, before a large crowd of supporters.

Accompanied by his wife, Hammoud expressed deep gratitude to all who took part in the election, especially his family, friends and campaign volunteers, as his win secured another four-year term leading a city of roughly 106,000 residents, according to the latest estimates.

“Four years ago, with your support, we made history together,” Hammoud, who in 2021 became the first Arab and Muslim elected to lead Dearborn, said. “Thirty days later, my first daughter was born, and from the moment I saw her, I realized there is something deeper than politics and public service: responsibility — not only as a mayor, but as a father, a son of this city and a servant of its people.

“When I held her for the first time, I knew I could not let her down — or any child who calls Dearborn home,” he added. “From that moment, I stopped thinking about the next election and started thinking about the next generations.”

Backed by the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) and The Arab American News, Hammoud reflected on Dearborn’s history of bias and racism and how it has transformed into “a united, welcoming city” despite ongoing smear campaigns.

“Dearborn’s story isn’t perfect, but it is a story of transformation,” Hammoud said. “This city was not always welcoming. Once, the late Mayor Orville Hubbard promised to keep ‘Dearborn clean’ and he wasn’t talking about our streets; he meant excluding Black families. Years later, the late Mayor Michael Guido spoke of the ‘Arab problem’ as Arab families, like mine, were putting down roots here.

“We are not defined by those who left, but by those who stayed, built and believed this city could become greater,” he added.

Several Council members and other officials attended the celebration, including Mike Sareini, Mustapha Hammoud, Dearborn Chief Judge Sam Salamey, Police Chief Issa Shahin and State Representative Alabas Farhat, as well as Gary Woronchak, who lost the 2021 mayoral race to Hammoud.

Hammoud spoke about Dearborn’s shared civic life among all its communities.

“Where church steeples sit alongside mosque domes and where residents and activists together mark both Islamic and Christian occasions with shared values,” he said.

“This is who we are today, this is sacred Dearborn, and this is sacred America,”  he said, affirming to Arab, Polish, Italian and all other families, regardless of creed or ethnicity, that the American Dream in Dearborn “is not a myth or a slogan, but a reality built on unity, dignity, equal opportunity and justice.”

Hammoud cautioned against media campaigns seeking to undermine Dearborn’s unity and shared life.

“Some headlines tell a different story about Dearborn — they portray our faith as a threat, our diversity as division and our city as an exception,” he said. “But these attempts will not divide us. Shared life in our city is not just talk—it is a way of life.

“We are not a city to be intimidated — we are a city to be emulated. We are not a city of the past — we are a city of promise.”

Hammoud said Dearborn offers a model for all political parties in the United States and for candidates across Michigan seeking victory:

“If you want to win elections, treat people with dignity, meet them in their homes and communities and listen to their concerns and needs.

“We also prove that if you want to win in Michigan, improve people’s lives — and the lives of those they love.”

Hammoud pledged to continue on the path of “unity, building and welcoming everyone who wants to belong to our city.

“This is Dearborn’s promise — and America’s promise — from factory floors to classrooms, from mosques to churches and synagogues, from small businesses to City Hall. We will keep working with everyone, regardless of background or identity, and we say to them: You have a home here. That is our promise — and it will be our legacy, which we will continue to write together.

“My name is Abdullah Hussein Hammoud, and I am honored to serve you for four more years,” he concluded.

For his part, Almudhegi congratulated Hammoud on winning the mayoral race, expressing respect for the voters’ decision.

“The defining quality of this great country is that we choose our leadership peacefully and democratically,” he said. “Dearborn residents have spoken. I respect their decision and congratulate Mayor Hammoud on this victory.”

City Council race

Dearborn voters re-elected the six Council incumbents seeking another four-year term. Council President Mike Sareini, who was endorsed by AAPAC and The Arab American News, led the field with 16,508 votes, which, under the Dearborn City Charter (where the top vote-getter serves as Council president), allows him to remain Council president for the next four years.

Placing second, third and fourth — also endorsed by The Arab American News, were, respectively, Kamal Alsawafy (13,284 votes), Mustapha Hammoud (12,600) and Robert Abraham (11,706). Ken Paris and Gary Enos finished fifth and sixth with 10,668 and 9,910 votes, respectively.

The incoming Council will also include newcomer Devon O’Reilly, who finished seventh with 9,619 votes and will thus assume Leslie Herrick’s seat.

As with the mayoral race, Dearborn did not hold a Council primary because the number of candidates (13) did not exceed more than twice the number of open seats (seven).

Among those who fell short, the strongest performer was former Dearborn Board of Education member Sharon Dulmage, who placed eighth with 9,160 votes, followed by Mark Andrew (9,113), Shadi Mawari (8,929) and Othman Alaansi (8,254). The latter two, both first-time candidates endorsed by AAPAC and The Arab American News, finished 10th and 11th, respectively.

Rounding out the list were Arab American candidates Mubarek Ahmed (6,798) and Ahmad Othman (6,143).

City clerk race

Voters returned George Darany, who has served since early 2016 — to the City Clerk’s Office with 13,022 votes, comfortably ahead of Yemeni-American challenger Sami Elhady, who received 10,586 votes in his first run for office. (Elhady was also endorsed by AAPAC and The Arab American News.)

A resounding “no” to the ward proposal

Voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed amendment to the Dearborn City Charter to expand the City Council and change the election method by dividing the city into seven wards.

Voters rejected Proposal 1, which AAPAC and The Arab American News urged them to defeat, by 17,770 voters (71 percent) versus 7,315 in favor (29 percent), even though the petition drive had collected more signatures than the number of “yes” votes ultimately cast.

“No” votes broke down as follows: 2,861 early, 1,752 absentee and 14,817 on Election Day — despite the strong presence of ward-system advocates outside polling places across the city.