DEARBORN/DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Michigan voters elected their representatives to the 110-member State House on Tuesday, giving Democrats a substantial majority. The party increased its representation from 52 seats in the current chamber to 63 in the next House, which will take office on January 1, 2027.

The State House in the 104th legislature will include two Arab American members: Alabas Farhat of the third District and Jalal Abdallah of the 15th District. It will mark the first time the chamber has included two members of Lebanese descent.

Voters in the Third District, which covers most of Dearborn and the Warrendale neighborhood in western Detroit, renewed their confidence in Farhat, giving him more than 25,000 votes, or 85.4 percent, compared with 4,284 votes for Republican challenger Gus H. Tarraf.

In the 15th District, which includes the western third of Dearborn and most of Dearborn Heights, except for a few neighborhoods in the city’s far northwest, Jalal Abdallah received more than 26,000 votes, or 72.4 percent, compared with approximately 10,000 for Republican opponent Hassan H. Nehme.

While the Third and 15th Districts traditionally favor Democrats, the party also captured 11 districts currently represented by Republicans: the 27th in southern Wayne County; the 28th in Monroe County; the 44th in Calhoun County; the 46th in Jackson County; the 54th and 55th in Oakland County; the 57th and 58th in Macomb County; the 68th in Genesee County; the 86th in Ottawa and Allegan Counties in western Michigan; and the 109th in the Upper Peninsula.

“Voters’ decisions on November 3 require concrete action from Democrats, who will take power in Lansing,” Farhat said of the results. He described the sweeping Democratic victory as “a mandate from the people to confront special interests.”

“It is a mandate from working families in our state to seriously and decisively address the cost-of-living crisis they face, confront the harsh cuts coming from Washington, D.C. and challenge the greed we see on display there,” he added. “It is a mandate to lead and embrace bold ideas.”

Farhat, 26, has served in the State House since early 2023 and is considered a prominent contender for a leadership position in the new majority. Meanwhile, Indian American State Rep. Ranjeev Puri of Canton is considered the leading candidate to become the next House speaker.

Neither party has secured a 63-seat majority in the State House since Republicans did so in the 2010 election, fueled by the rise of the Tea Party movement opposing then-Democratic President Obama.

Abdallah expressed to The Arab American News his deep gratitude for his constituents’ confidence, describing it as a source of daily motivation to represent them to the best of his ability at the state Capitol in Lansing.

“I want to bring my district’s interests to the legislature and provide it with all the support it needs to address the issues troubling voters, such as auto insurance, which was one of the main issues I campaigned on,” the Lebanese American representative-elect said.

He explained that he would pursue new auto insurance legislation aimed at lowering the steep costs drivers face.

“My approach is very simple: I will go there and work extremely hard, to the very best of my ability, to make everyone proud and help make life easier for the people of my district,” he said.