DEARBORN HEIGHTS – In the race for the three open City Council seats, City Councilman Mo Baydoun was the top vote-getter among the six candidates, garnering 4,085 votes or 30.2 percent, followed by former City Council Chair Denise Malinowski-Maxwell, who got 3,659 votes or  27 percent. Hassan Saab, who got 1,742 votes or 12.9 percent, came in third.

The results mean that Dearborn Heights will have three Arab American City Council members, Baydoun, Hassan Ahmad and the newly elected Hassan Saab. In September Zouher Abdel-Hak was appointed to the Council to replace Ray Muscat, who resigned in August. Abdel-Hak was on the ballot Tuesday, but failed to make the top three. Mayor Bill Bazzi became the first Arab Muslim American mayor in the history of Dearborn Heights.

Muscat came in fourth place, with 1,661, or 12.3 percent, despite his request to voters not to vote for him in the Nov. 7 general election, following his sudden resignation. He suspended his election campaign about two weeks after he won the primary election in August. Abdel-Hak came in fifth place with 1,577 votes, followed by Ahmad Alkaabi, who received 747 votes.

According to the results of the general elections, the new Dearborn Heights Council will consist of Arab American members Baydoun, Saab and Ahmed, all of Lebanese descent, in addition to Malinowski-Maxwell, Nancy Bryer, Bob Constan and Tom Wensel, with the Council assuming its new duties at the beginning of next year. These will include the election of a new Council chair to succeed current Chair Dave (Wassim) Abdallah, who didn’t seek re-election.