DEARBORN – Five candidates with Arab ethnic roots will appear on the City Council election ballot in November after placing among the top 14 vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary.

Dearborn voter Kefah Saad, 43, inserts his ballot into a vote-counting machine at Woodworth Middle School on Tuesday as his son Hady Saad, 7, watches. PHOTOS: Khalil AlHajal/TAAN

With a record eight Arab Americans running in the primary, 18.36 percent of registered voters turned out to vote, narrowing down a field of 25 candidates and pushing through all seven incumbents, plus newcomers Ali Sayed, David Bazzy, Brian C. O’Donnell, Sharon Dulmage, Patrick Kiernan, Patrick D’Ambrosio and veteran politician George Hart.
The 14 survivors will vie for seven spots on the council in the Nov. 3 general election.

Arab American incumbents George Darany, Suzanne Sareini and Robert Abraham came in third, fourth and ninth, respectively, according to results from the City Clerk’s office.

Bazzy, a former Charter Commission member, came in tenth, and local business owner Ali Sayed squeezed into the 14th spot, edging out candidate Adrenne Wygonik.

Sayed runs a regional youth athletics company and has built bridges during his career and campaign with residents in the city’s west end, where Arab American presence is less significant.

He said he expects to gather more support by November.

“We’re going to rock the vote. We’re going to get out there,” said Sayed, 28. “People want us. People want change. People want to see new, energetic youth coming in and representing our city.”

Raoufa Nasrallah, 27, fills out her ballot at Woodworth Middle School Tuesday.

East-end resident Raoufa Nasrallah, 27, who voted at Woodworth Middle School, said she’s voted in every election since she was 18, because municipal government has a profound effect on people’s lives.
“It’s very important. The more votes, the more they listen to you,” she said. “There’s always somebody out there that makes an effort to listen to the community and speak to the community.”

Nasrallah, who said she voted for some incumbents like Abraham and Doug Thomas and some newcomers like Sayed, said that in an era of increased discrimination against Arab Americans, participation in even the smallest of elections has become essential. She said she was happy to see more Arab Americans on the ballot than ever.

“I hope it continues like this… It’s a start.”

Abraham said he expects to fall within the top seven vote-getters in November, when a larger voter turnout is common.

“I’m looking forward to a higher turnout in south Dearborn and east Dearborn,” he said.

But he said building bridges between the city’s different ethnic and geographic segments and being electable in all precincts is key to winning an election in Dearborn.

“It’s extremely important to continue to make progress in building bridges, in interweaving our culture and our lifestyles,” he said. “Obviously, both sides can improve that.”

“It’s good to have all ethnic groups participate,” said Abraham, whose grandparents were Lebanese immigrants.

Kefah Saad, 43, L, and Fatme Saad, 37, prepare to vote in Dearborn Tuesday as their son, Hady, 7, watches.

His campaign distributed some material that read “Vote for Robert Abraham” in English, and underneath, written in Arabic, “Vote for Hussein Abraham.”
Abraham said that though his birth certificate reads Robert, Hussein is his Arabic given name, and that his grandparents called him Hussein.

Rabih Hammoud, an Arab American candidate who did not make the top 14 with 1,432 votes, said he hopes to redirect the the energy of his 30-member campaign team to support other Arab American candidates, or candidates endorsed by the Arab American Political Action Committee.

“My campaign is going to work twice as hard for the remaining Arab Americans,” he said. “We have to rally as a community together… We have to stick together on this… see who AAPAC supports and move in that direction.”

AAPAC sent out a series of automated phone calls recorded in English and Arabic to Arab American homes on Monday and Tuesday, reminding residents to vote. The group intends to make a wider door-to-door get-out-the-vote effort ahead of the November election.

Dearborn primary results from the City Clerk’s office:

REGISTERED VOTERS………… 59,170

BALLOTS CAST ……………………. 10,861

VOTER TURNOUT ……………….. 18.36 percent

CITY COUNCIL

The following 14 candidates will face off in November:

Thomas Patrick Tafelski………… 5,629 9.40 percent

Nancy A. Hubbard…………………… 4,457 7.44 percent

George T. Darany…………………….. 4,140 6.91 percent

Suzanne Sareini ……………………….. 4,051 6.76 percent

Mark C. Shooshanian ……………. 3,931 6.56 percent

Sharon Dulmage……………………… 3,533 5.90 percent

Brian C. O’Donnell ………………… 3,417 5.70 percent

Doug Thomas…………………………… 3,284 5.48 percent

Robert A. Abraham ……………….. 3,232 5.39 percent

David W. Bazzy………………………… 2,759 4.61 percent

George Hart……………………………… 2,372 3.96 percent

Patrick M. Kiernan ……………….. 2,267 3.78 percent

Patrick D’Ambrosio ………………. 2,170 3.62 percent

Ali Sayed ………………………………….. 2,004 3.34 percent

Adrenne Wygonik………………………… 1,958 3.27 percent

Nancy Siwik…………………………………. 1,644 2.74 percent

Stephen S. Dobkowski, Jr…………….. 1,497 2.50 percent

Rabih Hammoud………………………….. 1,432 2.39 percent

Terry Burke………………………………….. 1,182 1.97 percent

Scott J. Marquette…………………………. 1,031 1.72 percent

Khalil Dakhlallah…………………………. 989 1.65 percent

Mark J. Dawdy……………………………. 884 1.48 percent

Hussein Sobh………………………………. 880 1.47 percent

Molly Sharp………………………………… 630 1.05 percent

Joseph Agius……………………………….. 446 0.74 percent

WRITE-IN…………………………………… 94 0.16 percent

Visit www.cityofdearborn.org/cityclerk for the full breakdown.