State election officials say voters should hand-deliver absentee ballots in final week before May 3
April 26th, 20220 Michigan's elections officials are encouraging voters to hand-deliver their absentee ballots to their local clerk’s office or ballot drop box, in the week leading up to the May 3 elections Several Michigan communities, including Dearborn, are holding elections next Tuesday. Absentee ballots must be returned by 8 p.m. on Election...
Here are some local candidates for the August primary, after withdrawal deadline
April 22nd, 20220 The deadline for withdrawal from the August primary election has now passed and here are some candidates in notable races for districts covering Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Hamtramck and more. The following list appears on the Michigan Department of State's website and includes candidates who have withdrawn their names from each...
Democrat Jeff Pepper to face Republican Ginger Shearer in May 3 special election for State House District 15
April 22nd, 20220 A special general election on May 3 will decide who sits in the State House seat vacated by Dearborn Mayor and former State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud through the end of the year. The race for the 15th House District pits Democrat Jeff Pepper and Republican Ginger Shearer, formerly known as Virginia Polk. Pepper won the special...
Criminal defense attorney Stephanie Fakih running for State House seat covering Bloomfield, Auburn Hills, Lake Orion
April 17th, 20220 BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP — Criminal defense attorney and Bloomfield Township Trustee Stephanie Fakih has announced her candidacy for the newly drawn 54th State House District. That district covers Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills, Auburn Hills, Orion Township, Lake Orion and part of Oakland Township. Fakih is a criminal defense...
Clerks Garrett and Darany: Get the translation done
April 16th, 20220 On March 22, the Dearborn City Council unanimously passed a resolution requiring ballot translation to any language spoken by more than 10,000 residents (or 5 percent of the population, whichever criteria is met first). The resolution also calls for implementation to start as early as the August primary election. This was a historical...
Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett appears at Dearborn Council meeting to comment on election translation efforts
April 16th, 20220 DEARBORN - Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett appeared at the Dearborn City Council meeting this week to give her input, in public, to the city’s present language access efforts. The Council passed a resolution in March, brought forth by Councilman Mustapha Hammoud, that sought to ensure ballots and other election materials would be...Secretary of State says Dearborn has authority to expand voting access by translating election materials
April 1st, 20220 DEARBORN — An effort to bring federally guaranteed language access to Dearborn’s multilingual population continues to see resistance. Last week, the Dearborn City Council passed a resolution, brought forth by Councilman Mustapha Hammoud, that sought to ensure ballots and other election materials would be translated into multiple...Jeff Pepper wins Democratic special primary for 15th District state representative amid low voter turnout
March 1st, 20220 DEARBORN — In a special primary election propelled by absentee voting on the west side of Dearborn, Jeff Pepper beat out Alabas Farhat (3,590 to 2,778) to be the Democratic candidate for state representative for the 15th House District. Pepper, a local attorney, will now face Republican Ginger Shearer, formerly known as Virginia...
Dearborn voters urged to participate in March 1 special primary election to decide on a state representative until year’s end
February 25th, 20220 DEARBORN — The local community is urged to participate in electing a new state representative for the 15th House District, after the seat was vacated by Mayor Abdullah Hammoud following his victory last November. To fill the vacancy, Governor Whitmer called for a special primary election on Tuesday, March 1 and a general election...
Dearborn City Council President Pro-tem Erin Byrnes running for state representative
February 10th, 20220 DEARBORN — Dearborn City Council President Pro-Tem Erin Byrnes has announced her candidacy for the newly drawn 15th State House District. “Today, I filed to run for state representative in the new 15th District,” Byrnes wrote in a Facebook post. “This District encompasses precincts 33-50 in Dearborn and the majority of...
Q&A with Alabas Farhat, special election candidate for the State House in the 15th District
February 5th, 20220 DEARBORN — Three names have emerged as contenders to fill the State House seat vacated by Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud through the end of the year. On the Democratic ticket are Alabas Farhat and local attorney Jeffrey Pepper. One Republican, Ginger Shearer, formerly known as Virginia Polk, is also in the race. Governor...
State Senator Sylvia Santana announces re-election campaign
February 3rd, 20220 DEARBORN — With new district maps drawn, State Senator Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit) is looking to be re-elected to the newly drawn Second Senate District. Santana served in the Michigan House of Representatives, serving the Ninth District from 2017 to 2018 when she was elected to represent the Third District, covering the cities of...
Bilal Hammoud announces candidacy for new State House seat covering Dearborn Heights, West Dearborn
February 2nd, 20220 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Local community activist and former Michigan Department of State employee Bilal Hammoud announced his candidacy for state representative for the newly drawn 15th State House District, representing West Dearborn and all of Dearborn Heights, for this November's election. “I am dedicated to breaking bureaucratic...
Q&A with Jeff Pepper, special election candidate for the State House in the 15th District
January 30th, 20222 DEARBORN — Three names have emerged as contenders to fill the State House seat vacated by Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud through the end of the year. On the Democratic ticket are Alabas Farhat and local attorney Jeffrey Pepper. One Republican, Ginger Shearer, formerly known as Virginia Polk, is also in the race. Governor...
Candidates emerge for special election to fill State House seat vacated by Abdullah Hammoud
January 17th, 20221 DEARBORN — Three names have emerged as contenders to fill out the State House seat vacated by Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud through the end of the year. Wayne County Clerk records show three people are now in the race for the State House District 15, which encompasses most of Dearborn. On the Democratic ticket are Alabas......
Rashida Tlaib to run for newly-drawn 12th District, including Dearborn and Dearborn Heights; Brenda Lawrence to retire from Congress
January 4th, 20220 DEARBORN — U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) has officially announced she will be running for the newly drawn 12th Congressional District covering Dearborn, Dearborn Heights and surrounding cities, and Southfield, in this year's election. This mean the neighboring 13th Congressional District, covering Detroit, Hamtramck and...
A new era for Dearborn: Mayor Abdullah Hammoud’s first day in office
January 4th, 20220 DEARBORN — Abdullah Hammoud, Dearborn’s newly elected mayor, began his duties on Monday, Jan. 3 at the Dearborn Administrative Center. Hammoud is the first Arab American mayor of the large and historic city, home to the Ford Motor Company headquarters, with a population of close to 110,000. His election made international......
Whitmer calls for special election to fill Abdullah Hammoud’s MI House seat
January 4th, 20220 LANSING — Governor Whitmer announced Monday that she has sent a letter to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson calling for a special election to fill a vacant seat in the Michigan House of Representatives. The vacancy is caused by the election of Representative Abdullah Hammoud, who previously represented the 15th House District, as...
Redistricting Commission adopts final maps, offering possibilities for Arab American enclaves
December 29th, 20210 The state’s citizen-led, bipartisan Redistricting Commission has adopted its final versions of political maps by the expected timeline. Although experts are now anticipating legal challenges to the maps, residents at least get a good glimpse into how they could be represented in state House and Senate seats as well as the important...Redistricting maps continue to face criticism for lack of minority and ethnic representations
December 24th, 20210 MICHIGAN — The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) is expected to vote on the final political district maps starting Dec. 28. The upcoming finalization of the state’s political boundaries comes after months of debate and deliberation over the drawing of state and federal districts, with the aim to give...
Dearborn City Council election results broken down by precincts show plunking citywide
November 15th, 20210 DEARBORN – Now that the general election dust has settled, The Arab American News examined Dearborn election results broken down by precincts. Here are some observations based on the detailed results: • The candidates' rankings in the different areas of the city (see tables) offer several key conclusions: 1. Dearborn’s......
Sorting out the votes in the Dearborn mayoral election
November 12th, 20210 DEARBORN — With a historic election in the books, the voter turnout across the city was surprisingly low in every precinct. Precinct 32 had the highest voter turnout percentage of 51.11 percent and 441 people voting at the polls, with 252 voters returning their absentee ballots. Precinct 35 had the second highest voter turnout...
Palestinian American Huwaida Arraf announces Congressional bid for Thumb district
November 11th, 20210 A Palestinian American has announced her campaign to represent Michigan’s 10th Congressional District. Huwaida Arraf is a "working mother, human rights advocate, attorney and first-generation American," says a campaign press release. She is vying for a Congressional seat in a state that is slated to see a reshaping of its political......
A long journey to a “historic” election
November 5th, 20210 This week, headlines regarding Tuesday’s election across local, national and international media included some version of the word "historic." Not surprising when one takes into consideration that three Arab American candidates in some of the state’s densest cities enjoyed landslide victories for mayoral races: Amer Ghalib in...
Westland: Mayor Bill Wild wins re-election in a landslide, Godbout, Hart and Herzberg return to Council
November 5th, 20210 WESTLAND — Voters in Westland had the difficult decision of choosing a mayor and four City Council members in the general election. Mayor Bill Wild, who has served as mayor since 2007, ran for reelection against Councilwoman Tasha Green. With 12,122 votes cast, Wild received 8,704 or 71.8 percent, giving him his fourth term as......
