Detroit Mayor Duggan announces he won’t seek re-election, doesn’t disclose future plans
November 15th, 20240 DETROIT – After 12 years of leading the city of Detroit, Mayor Mike Duggan announced during a press conference Wednesday that he will not seek a fourth four-year term in next year’s municipal election. However, he did not specify his future political plans following the conclusion of his term at the end of 2025. Speculation has...
Voting against genocide — How Gaza defeated the Democratic establishment
November 15th, 20242 Arab and Muslim American voters did not remove Democrats from office, nor did they cost Kamala Harris the Oval Office. They merely sent a strong message that Palestine matters, not only to Arabs and Muslims but to many Americans as well. The ones who cost the Democrats the elections are the Democrats themselves. Their humiliating...
Congressional elections: Republicans win additional seat in Michigan, moving toward retaining majority in U.S. House
November 9th, 20240 Alongside the presidential race, elections for all 13 of Michigan’s U.S. Congressional Districts were held Tuesday. The results favored the Republican Party, which increased its share of Michigan seats in the House of Representatives to seven members after Republican candidate Tom Barrett in District 7 (Lansing area) defeated his...
Slotkin’s wins Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat, Republicans flip majority in the Senate
November 9th, 20240 Despite Democrat Elissa Slotkin's victory in Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, the national red wave on Tuesday ran counter to Democratic hopes, as Republicans took over the Senate majority by securing at least four seats in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Montana and West Virginia. Preliminary figures also indicate they may gain an additional...
Voters return Crestwood School Board members to their seats, approve bond proposal to upgrade school buildings
November 9th, 20240 DEARBORN HEIGHTS – On Tuesday, voters in the Dearborn Heights Crestwood School District approved an election proposal to issue more than $120 million in bonds to upgrade school facilities and buildings, and they also renewed their confidence in five current school board members who ran to retain their seats on the seven-member...
Two Arab American candidates secure seats on Dearborn Board of Education, making Arab American majority for first time
November 9th, 20240 DEARBORN – The Dearborn Board of Education race concluded with the success of two Arab American candidates out of 10 contestants vying for two full six-year terms. This result will give Arab Americans a majority on the Dearborn Board of Education for the first time, with four Arab Americans out of seven members, starting in...
Arab American Jinan Hamood wins open trial court seat in Washtenaw County
November 9th, 20240 Ann Arbor attorney Jinan Hamood has successfully secured her spot on the bench in Washtenaw County's trial court. Hamood received 65.84 percent of the vote, defeating challenger Jeffery Worosz, who received 33.46 percent, according to the unofficial county election results. The current Washtenaw County trial court judge is Timothy...
Trump wins presidential election; Arab American voters speak: turning points in Michigan’s general election as Harris loses the state
November 9th, 20243 Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States after receiving 295 electoral college votes, while Vice President Harris won 226. A candidate needs 270 votes to win the presidency. Winning in several swing states, including Michigan, Trump will begin his second presidential term Jan. 20. As of press time, with...
Two new members join Hamtramck School Board
November 9th, 20240 HAMTRAMCK – On Tuesday, Hamtramck voters approved a referendum to renew the property tax dedicated to funding public schools in the city for 10 years. This decision came as the number of Arab American members on the local school board decreased, with the current board president, Yemeni American Jihan Aiyash, losing her bid for one of...
No surprises in tri-county elections: Elected officials retain seats in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties
November 8th, 20240 Alongside Michigan's statewide races, local elections were held Tuesday in several counties, municipalities and school districts. Here’s an overview of the key results in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties: Wayne County The elections for government positions yielded no surprises, as incumbent Democratic officials retained all their...
Republicans sweep Michigan educational board races, takes seven seats out of eight
November 8th, 20240 LANSING – Aside from businesswoman Denise Ilitch, who retained her seat on the University of Michigan Board of Regents, Democratic candidates for the boards of Michigan’s top three universities faced surprising losses, extending also to the State Board of Education, which oversees K-12 schooling. In Tuesday’s elections, partisan...
SMART offering free rides on Election Day
November 4th, 20240 WHAT: On Election Day, November 5, SMART will offer FREE transit service to all riders throughout Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties. This initiative aims to eliminate transportation barriers and support voter participation by ensuring access to the polls for all individuals. SMART will provide free rides on the following services: ...
Where Harris and Trump stand on key issues of importance to Arab Americans
November 1st, 20241 Here is a brief look at some of their policies as published by Reuters: Vice President Harris, a Democrat, faces former President Trump, a Republican, in the 2024 U.S. presidential election race that may be decided by a thin sliver of votes in seven battleground states. The two are sharply divided on the role the U.S. government should...
Arab American support for Trump is misguided
November 1st, 20243 I was surprised to read of the reaction of some Arab Americans to VP Harris’ candidacy for president in “Harris, Trump campaigns continue their covert efforts to sway Arab and Muslim voters despite their overtly strong support for Israel.” Apparently, many think they will “punish” the Biden administration by voting for Trump....A bit confused
November 1st, 20240 Dear Mr. Siblani, I've been thinking about your statement in the recent Politico article and decided to write. Your community is being presented a rare opportunity due to the outsize power of its voting bloc this election. This might not come again. Yet rather than leveraging it, you’d prefer to just keep protesting? Politics are......
Trump would allow Netanyahu to commit unparalleled genocide
November 1st, 20240 Dear editor, I am a Jew, born and raised in Detroit. I urge and feel it essential that fellow Detroiters and the Arab community to vote to elect Kamala Harris for president. Michigan can deliver the presidency to either Harris or Trump. If the Arab community, once a stalwart of Democratic support, refrains from voting for president or...Imam Bilal Alzuhairi: Voting for Trump…. really?
November 1st, 20240 In a few days, we Americans will become accustomed to the “F” word for the next four (or more) years. There exists a possibility that for the first time in the 250 years of its existence as a republic, a fascist will be installed as president of the United States! It sounds ominously hysterical, hyperbolic and overblown, but wait......
Unique opportunity for the recognition of Arab & Muslim votes
November 1st, 20241 Irrespective of the colors of past, present and future U.S. administrations, the U.S. policy in the Middle East was and will remain biased against Arabs and their causes for at least the foreseeable future. The U.S. administration’s unlimited diplomatic and military support for Israel wasn’t only dictated by the organized...
AAPAC holds 27th annual banquet in Dearborn, calls for high voter participation on November 5 in response to Israeli genocide
November 1st, 20240 DEARBORN – On the eve of the Nov. 5 presidential election, the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) held its 27th annual banquet at the Byblos Banquet Hall in Dearborn Wednesday. Many government, judicial and community figures from the Detroit area attended the event, emphasizing the importance of higher voter turnout among...Trump = genocide for Palestinians
November 1st, 20240 Pissed off over President Biden’s unquestioned support for Israel’s war upon Gaza? Feel that Biden is complicit in genocide against the Palestinian people? Angry at Kamala Harris for being part of the Biden administration and want to blame her for the suffering of the Palestinians? Understandable feelings, justified anger. So, what...
Key deadlines for registration and voting in Michigan
October 26th, 20240 Don’t miss the opportunity to vote! Although last Monday was the last day in Michigan to register voters online or by mail for the November 5 election, there is still a chance for eligible citizens to register by visiting their local clerk’s office in the county or city where they reside, provided they can show proof of......
A look at major races in Michigan in addition to the presidential contest
October 26th, 20240 With the early in-person voting beginning across the state, the countdown to the November 5 elections has started, where millions of voters will head to the polls to cast their votes in dozens of local and national races, including the congressional and presidential ones. In this report, we review the statewide races in Michigan in...
Dearborn, Dearborn Heights voters to choose Board of Education members, consider Crestwood Schools bond
October 26th, 20240 On November 5, voters in the Dearborn and Dearborn Heights Crestwood Public Schools districts will head to the polls to fill several school board seats in both districts, which serve around 25,000 students, most of whom are of Arab descent. The elections include two open seats on the Dearborn Public Schools Board for a full term of......
After AAPAC and The Arab American News exclude them from endorsements, Trump and Harris compete to win back Michigan’s Arab American voters
October 26th, 20240 As the countdown to the presidential election on November 5 approaches, the race intensifies between the Democratic candidate, Vice President Harris and the Republican candidate, former President Trump, to attract Arab American voters in the Greater Detroit area, where they are expected to play a decisive role in tipping the scales in...
The Arab American News and AAPAC to Arab American voters: Our Endorsements
October 18th, 20241 Don't vote for either Harris, Trump, Slotkin or Rogers; choose down ballot candidates who've earned our support On Sunday, October 13, members of the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) met to decide which of the candidates and proposals on the November 5 ballot to endorse, including the hotly contested presidential......
