Two candidates for Detroit area State Senate seat have controversial pasts
July 22nd, 20180 DETROIT— Among the seven Democratic candidates seeking to fill a Detroit-area State Senate seat left open by a term-limited incumbent who pleaded guilty to federal theft and conspiracy charges, two have histories involving crime and controversy. Former State Sen. Bert Johnson (D-Highland Park) resigned after pleading guilty to...
Muslim candidates campaign in record numbers nationwide, but face backlash
July 20th, 20181 SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — When Muslim American Tahirah Amatul-Wadud heard about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's stunning upset over U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley in New York's Democratic primary last month, the first-time candidate saw parallels with her own long-shot campaign for Congress in western Massachusetts. Ocasio-Cortez, a liberal woman of...
Michigan Supreme Court hears arguments over anti-gerrymandering ballot proposal
July 18th, 20181 LANSING — The Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments challenging a proposed November ballot initiative to change who draws congressional and legislative districts every decade. The justices held a special session on Wednesday and asked many questions during 75 minutes of arguments. Voters Not Politicians, a group backed by the...
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell denies implying El-Sayed can’t win because he’s Muslim
July 16th, 20181 DEARBORN ― U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) has come under fire for implying during an interview with HuffPost at a rally in Ann Arbor on Saturday that gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed is less likely to win the election because he's a Muslim. Dingell is backing Gretchen Whitmer, a former Michigan Senate minority...
Progressive Democrats increasingly criticize Israel, which could be politically rewarding
July 13th, 20180 WASHINGTON — For decades it was seen as too politically risky to criticize Israel, but this midterm cycle a growing number of Democratic candidates have begun openly criticizing some of its policies. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the first-time candidate who upset 10-term incumbent Rep. Joseph Crowley in last month’s Democratic...
AAPAC endorses candidates in key primary races
July 13th, 20181 DEARBORN – Several key races are brewing that could alter the course municipalities and the state are taking as they face challenges like improving public education, fixing dilapidated infrastructure and lowering insurance premiums. After a passionate debate on Tuesday, July 11, The Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC)...
First Arab American sworn in as mayor of Paterson, New Jersey
July 6th, 20180 PATERSON, NJ —Andre Sayegh was sworn in as the mayor of Paterson, New Jersey on Sunday afternoon, July 1, becoming the first Arab American to hold the city’s highest office. Sayegh’s longtime political mentor, Rep. Bill Pascrell, administered the oath of office. Following his oath, Sayegh delivered a 12-minute inaugural...
Meet the candidates aiming to become first Muslim Congresswomen
July 6th, 20180 Progressive and unorthodox candidates for Congress have been racking up major victories in the past few months, sending shockwaves and turning heads in a political arena long-dominated by White Republican men with deep pockets. On June 26, 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated a 10-term Democratic incumbent in the primaries...
State senate candidates for third district share views on key issues
June 30th, 20181 DEARBORN - Two state senate candidates for the third district, State Rep. Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit) and Wayne County Commissioner Gary Woronchak, are competing in the August Democratic primary to replace term-limited State Sen. Morris Hood III (D-Detroit), who represents a district of about 215,000 residents in Dearborn, Detroit and...
Wayne County commissioner removed from primary ballot
June 23rd, 20180 DETROIT — Reggie "Reg" Davis, who was appointed as a Wayne County commissioner in January, has been taken off the August primary ballot after his opponent, Monique Baker McCormick, challenged his eligibility. Wayne County Clerk Cathy M. Garrett said she was upholding the challenge that Davis, in his bid to run for commissioner of...
State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud endorses Abdul El-Sayed for governor
June 22nd, 20180 DEARBORN — Dr. Abdul El-Sayed continues to rack up endorsements from across the state and around the country in his bid to be Michigan’s next governor. On Monday, State Rep. Hammoud (D-Dearborn) became the latest elected official to endorse Abdul El-Sayed’s gubernatorial campaign. A proud son of immigrants, Rep. Hammoud...
Somali American seeks Keith Ellison’s seat in Congress
June 18th, 20180 MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — Ilhan Omar is a Somali American politician who escaped from Somalia as a child, grew up in a Kenyan refugee camp and later immigrated to Minnesota. Years after immigrating, she became the nation’s first and only Somali American lawmaker when she won a seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives in...
Candidates for 13th Congressional District debate school funding
June 16th, 20186 DETROIT – Democratic candidates for the 13th District participated in a forum on June 11 at Detroit’s North Rosedale Park Community House that focused primarily on the role charter schools play in uplifting Detroit’s youth and reducing poverty and crime. The forum drew a sizable and passionate audience, many of whom explicitly...
Whitmer political group launches ad campaign in governor’s race
June 15th, 20180 LANSING – A political group backing Democrat Gretchen Whitmer for governor launched a $1.8 million, five-week TV ad campaign on Tuesday June 12, marking the first time Whitmer will appeal to viewers before the August primary election. The former legislative leader said she “fought for working families” in the State Senate, where...
Abdul El-Sayed unveils Michicare, a healthcare plan for Michigan
June 15th, 20180 DETROIT — Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic candidate for governor, unveiled a state-level single payer healthcare plan on Wednesday. The proposal, called Michicare, would make Michigan the first state in the country to guarantee universal healthcare coverage for all residents. El-Sayed is the first candidate for governor in......
Appeals Court sides with Santana in ballot illegibility challenge
June 9th, 20180 DEARBORN — The Michigan Court of Appeals has sided with State Rep. Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit) in a lawsuit challenging her eligibility to be on the ballot in her run for the third State Senate district this primary election. Judges Michael Riordan, Christopher Murray and Cynthia Stephens decided unanimously on June 6 that Wayne...
Voters to decide marijuana legalization after legislature fails to act
June 9th, 20181 LANSING — The state legislature decided on Tuesday the issue of legalizing marijuana for recreational use will be up to voters to decide in the November election. Senate Republicans had wanted to take up and pass the measure so they could amend it and keep it off the Nov. 6 general election ballot. They instead deferred to the House......
Low-income workers protest Bill Schuette’s opposition to Medicaid
June 9th, 20180 DETROIT— On Thursday afternoon, a group of more than 100 low-income voters met outside Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office in Detroit to protest his pledge to cut Michigan’s Medicaid expansion. A community member with the group said 700,000 Michigan residents who have Medicaid could be affected by the...State Senate candidate Sylvia Santana’s eligibility goes to appeals court
June 1st, 20180 DEARBORN — A lawsuit to remove State Rep. Sylvia Santana from the ballot in her run for the third State Senate district this primary election is moving to the Michigan Court of Appeals, after a Wayne County Circuit Judge ruled in Santana's favor on March 29. The seat is currently held by State Sen. Morris Hood and encompasses...
Paterson, NJ elects first Arab American mayor in landslide victory
May 11th, 20181 PATERSON, NJ — Andre Sayegh registered a resounding victory in Paterson’s six-man mayoral contest on Tuesday, capturing the office that he failed to gain in two previous elections. Using the theme “One Paterson”, Sayegh converted alliances he reached with community leaders from various ethnic groups into a coalition that...
Michigan Bureau of Elections rules El-Sayed eligible in Michigan governor’s race
May 11th, 20180 LANSING - On Wednesday May 9, the Michigan Bureau of Elections rejected all challenges to Abdul El-Sayed’s legal eligibility to run for governor and confirmed him eligible to run. Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Shri Thanedar brought the challenge of El-Sayed’s eligibility forward. “The official state Qualified Voter File......
Palestinian-Mexican American running for U.S. Congress in California
May 11th, 20180 SAN DIEGO — A candidate for the U.S. Congress in the state of California is hoping to become its first Latino-Arab American member by capturing a district that has voted Republican for the past 30 years. Ammar Campa-Najjar, a 29-year-old former field campaign director for President Obama, White House staffer and a labor department...Paterson, NJ elects first Arab American mayor in landslide victory
May 11th, 20180 PATERSON, NJ — Andre Sayegh registered a resounding victory in Paterson’s six-man mayoral contest on Tuesday, capturing the office that he failed to gain in two previous elections. Using the theme “One Paterson”, Sayegh converted alliances he reached with community leaders from various ethnic groups into a coalition that......
The Bernie Sanders-inspired ‘Our Revolution’ endorses Abdul El-Sayed for governor
May 11th, 20180 DETROIT — At a campaign rally in Detroit on Saturday, May 5, former Ohio State Sen. Nina Turner announced that Our Revolution, an organization inspired by Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) 2016 presidential campaign, has endorsed Dr. Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. Our Revolution is a national...
Supreme Court justices launch re-election campaigns
May 4th, 20180 LANSING — Michigan Supreme Court Justices Kurtis Wilder and Elizabeth Clement announced their re-election campaigns on April 30. The two vowed to work together on the campaign trail. "I am proud today to join my colleague Elizabeth Clement in launching our campaign so that we can continue our important work on the Michigan Supreme......
