Dearborn Heights Councilwoman Lisa Hicks-Clayton seeks civility and transparency in local government
July 13th, 20191 DEARBORN HEIGHTS – City Councilwoman Lisa Hicks-Clayton has served on the Dearborn Heights City Council for two consecutive terms and hopes to continue serving the city’s residents. With the primary election coming up on Aug. 6, Hicks-Clayton, who will be one of nine candidates competing for three seats, spoke to The Arab American...
Bernie Sanders proposes canceling entire $1.6 trillion in U.S. student loan debt
June 24th, 20190 Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) proposed a bill on Monday eliminating all $1.6 trillion of student debt held in the United States, two days before the candidates' first debate in Miami, adding to the 2020 policy fight of the Democratic presidential primary. Sanders' proposal suggests that the federal government pay to wipe clean the student...
Community holds fundraiser for prosecutor Kym Worthy in Dearborn
June 22nd, 20190 DEARBORN — Friends, supporters, well wishers, prominent community members and officials alike turned out by the dozens on Wednesday June 19 at Habib's Cuisine, supporting one of the most respected prosecutors in the country, Kym Worthy, for her upcoming bid for reelection. Worthy, who recently joined with Michigan Solicitor General...
Officials and community members gather to support Dave Abdallah’s re-election campaign kick-off
June 14th, 20190 Dearborn Heights – Councilman Dave Abdallah kicked off his campaign to be reelected to the Dearborn Heights City Council on Wednesday. The event, held at Bellagio Banquet Hall in Dearborn Heights, hosted several city officials and community members. Supporters and well-wishers included The Arab American News Publisher Osama Siblani,...
Federal court: Michigan must redraw congressional, legislative maps
April 26th, 20190 DETROIT — A panel of federal judges ordered Michigan's Republican-controlled legislature to redraw nearly three dozen state and U.S. congressional districts on Thursday, saying that the existing boundaries dilute the power of Democratic voters. The panel of three judges said that the current maps drawn by Republicans represent a...
Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper announces presidential campaign
March 9th, 20190 DENVER — Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper announced Monday that he is launching a 2020 campaign for president. He made the announcement in a video called "Standing Tall", which follows Hickenlooper's life from laid-off geologist, to owner of a brew pub, to mayor of Denver and to governor. Hickenlooper implies in the video...
Hillary Clinton rules out run for president in 2020
March 9th, 20190 WASHINGTON D.C. — Hillary Clinton announced she won’t run for president in 2020, but said she’s “not going anywhere.” The former secretary of state, senator and first lady ruled out a presidential campaign during an interview posted Monday by a New York TV station. “I’m going to keep on working and speaking and...
Sanders chooses Muslim American to manage his presidential campaign
February 22nd, 20190 WASHINGTON, DC - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) chose Faiz Shakir, a Muslim American, to serve as his campaign manager for his second run for president. Shakir previously served as national political director of the American Civil Liberties Union since early 2017. Before his position at the ACLU he worked as a senior advisor to...
California Democrat Kamala Harris declares candidacy for president
January 24th, 20190 WASHINGTON — In what is becoming a highly diverse field, California Democratic Senator Kamala Harris declared her candidacy for president on Monday, entering on the Martin Luther King Day federal holiday. Harris, who became the second African American woman to serve in the United States Senate, declared her candidacy in the same...
Hawaii Democrat Tulsi Gabbard announces run for president in 2020
January 14th, 20190 With the 2020 presidential race less than 22 months away, Democrat Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii has decided to make her candidacy official. Gabbard announced her intention to run this past Friday on CNN's 'The Van Jones Show,' on an episode that was slated to air Saturday night. “There are a lot of reasons for me to make this...
McCormack elected chief justice of Michigan Supreme Court
January 14th, 20190 LANSING - In an unanimous vote by her colleagues, Michigan Supreme Court Justice Bridget McCormack was elected chief justice on Wednesday, making this the first time in the state's history that the offices of governor, attorney general, secretary of state and chief justice are all held by women. McCormack succeeds Steve Markman, the...
Latino-Arab American Ammar Campa-Najjar narrowly lost in midterms, plans to run in 2020
January 7th, 20190 SAN DIEGO - In November, Ammar Campa-Najjar hoped to become the first Latino Arab-American member of Congress. Though he was facing off against Rep. Duncan Hunter – who with an ongoing finance scandal is embroiled in controversy – he faced an uphill battle. The 50th Congressional District in California – which encompasses parts of...
Among my biggest disappointments in politics
December 14th, 20180 The other day, a friend asked what surprised me most about politics. This may seem strange, but I’d never really thought about the question. My response was off-the-cuff but heartfelt. The biggest surprise is also among my biggest disappointments with American political life: The ongoing effort by politicians to suppress...
Secretary of State-elect Jocelyn Benson announces transition team
November 24th, 20180 LANSING— Secretary of State-elect Jocelyn Benson has announced her transition committee, which will guide her preparation to assume the role of Michigan’s chief motor vehicle administrator and chief election officer, on January 1. “I am honored that two leaders and mentors I respect and admire, Senator Levin and Commissioner...
The real midterm elections wave wasn’t blue, it was Muslim
November 22nd, 20180 The Muslims are no longer coming—they are here! Well, in reality Muslims have been in America and contributing to it even before the nation was formed, since approximately 15 percent of the slaves from Africa were Muslim. But now Muslim Americans are “here” in a whole new way as a record number won their elections on Nov. 6.......
Mississippi Senate race may be defining moment for Black voters
November 17th, 20180 JACKSON, MS — U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith’s (R-MS) remark to a colleague that “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row” puts the Magnolia State at center stage for Black voters in the 2018 midterm elections. Mississippi had the highest number of lynchings in the United States between 1882 and 1968,...
Dana Nessel announces her transition team, including two Arab Americans
November 13th, 20180 LANSING - Michigan Attorney General-elect Dana Nessel recruited a team of experts to assist with the transition as she prepares to take office as Michigan’s 55th attorney general on Jan. 1. Nessel chose former Attorney General Frank Kelley, who served as Michigan’s AG for 37 years, as chair of her team. He was the longest-serving......
Michiganders had highest turnout in five decades for midterm elections
November 12th, 20180 DEARBORN - Around 4.3 million Michiganders cast their ballots on Tuesday — more than 1 million more than the last gubernatorial election in 2014 — a surge that pushed voter turnout beyond levels seen in five decades. In 2014, 3,188,956 ballots were cast. Statewide turnout among registered voters was 57.5 percent — much higher...
Women win both Michigan Supreme Court seats
November 12th, 20180 LANSING— Elizabeth T. Clement, who was snubbed by her own Republican party, and Megan Cavanagh, a Democratic nominee for the state's highest court, rode the pink wave in winning the two seats on the Michigan Supreme Court, which will now have three women and four men deciding cases that affect millions of Michiganders. Cavanagh, a...
Stabenow defeats James, retains her seat in the U.S. Senate
November 11th, 20180 LANSING— Democratic U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow defeated her Republican challenger, John James, a 37-year-old Farmington Hills businessman, by the smallest margin since she was first elected back in 2000. Stabenow won a fourth term in a contest in which President Trump backed James. Stabenow, 68, of Lansing, won 52 percent of the...
Republicans keep majorities in Michigan’s House and Senate, despite Democrats’ gain
November 11th, 20180 LANSING — Michigan Republicans will retain majorities in the Michigan House and Senate despite losing seats to Democrats in Tuesday's election, stopping a blue wave that swept the state's highest offices and setting the stage for a divided government that will be led by Democratic Governor-elect Gretchen Whitmer. The Republicans......
Rashida Tlaib wins U.S. House seat in landslide, defeats Jones’ write-in campaign
November 10th, 20180 DETROIT — Rashida Tlaib will be one of two Arab American and Muslim women ever to be elected to Congress after winning the seat of former U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. and defeating Brenda Jones' last minute write-in campaign, on Tuesday. The Palestinian American and vocal critic of President Trump was announced the winner of the 13th...
Donna Shalala second Lebanese American woman to enter Congress
November 9th, 20181 FLORIDA – Democratic candidate Donna Shalala won the seat vacated by retiring Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in Florida’s 27th Congressional District, with 51.7 percent of the votes, defeating her Republican opponent, Maria Elvira Salazar, who received 45 percent of the votes, to flip a House seat that has long been targeted by......
Sam Baydoun wins seat on the Wayne County Commission
November 9th, 20180 DEARBORN — On Tuesday, long-time real estate associate broker Sam Baydoun was elected to the 13th District Wayne County Commission seat vacated by outgoing Commission Chairman Gary Woronchak. Baydoun ran unopposed and received 30,920 votes. Woronchak, who mounted an unsuccessful run for State Senate, will step down in...
Arab Americans win in Northville and Crestwood, but lose in Dearborn School Board races
November 9th, 20184 DEARBORN — In a dramatic contrast, all five Arab American candidates failed in the Dearborn Board of Education race on Tuesday, while other Arab Americans scored victories in Dearborn Heights' Crestwood School District and the Northville School Board. In Dearborn, the Arab American capital of the U.S., thousands of Arab voters went......
