DEARBORN — “He has really inspired me, I want to be just like him one day, and run for office,” said Ahmed Aldhalimi, a 16-year-old Star International Academy student. 

Aldhalimi is an aspiring attorney and says after helping former city council candidate Tarek Baydoun throughout his campaign, he is now considering running for office one day. 

Baydoun’s campaign gave hope to a lot of people, especially Arab youth. 

His election night gathering was held at Byblos Banquet Hall in Dearborn, where about 500 of his supporters showed up. Although Baydoun wasn’t elected onto the city council, he came close to winning. There were seven seats open, and he ranked ninth among the 14 candidates, earning a total of 6,280 votes. 

An overwhelmingly large number of youth attended the election night gathering. The campaign got the youth politically active. During his concession speech Baydoun told his supporters that although the election was over, he would always be there for them. 

Baydoun says he’s overwhelmed by the love, loyalty and fortitude that so many people have expressed throughout the campaign.  

In a statement put out following the election Baydoun said, “Despite my personal exhaustion, and despite our shortcoming last night, I felt overwhelmingly blessed to know, with all confidence, that the people who support our cause will never quit.”  “Let’s continue this campaign for Dearborn’s future.” 

Baydoun congratulated all the candidates, in particular Mike Sareini and Susan Dabaja. He says Dabaja made history by garnering the highest number of votes and becoming the first Arab American and Muslim City Council President. 

“We have a good and great community, and I will always proudly serve it. We have a lot of work to do, especially in the area of electoral politics. Let’s continue this hard but important work together,” Baydoun said. 

Hassan Bazzoun, says Baydoun put sincerity and effort in the campaign with the intention of helping the community. Bazzoun worked with Baydoun’s campaign. 

“This experience is a positive one, because it set the stage towards more success for him and us in the future. It also has allowed a number of our community members to realize how important it is for us to be represented in our local city government,” Bazzoun said.