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...
A year on, the ideological insurrection against our democracy continues
January 8th, 20220 — This article by Abdul El-Sayed originally appeared in the newsletter The Incision. It has been edited for style. Subscribe to The Incision here: incision.substack.com When I told my parents that I was going to run for governor of Michigan, I could see through the windows of their eyes the emotions battling in their minds....
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...
Muslim Somali American Deqa Dhalac inaugurated as mayor of predominantly White Maine city
December 7th, 20210 MAINE — The City Council of South Portland, Maine unanimously voted on Monday to elect the city’s first Muslim mayor. Deqa Dhalac, 53, is believed to be the country’s first Somali American mayor. Dhalac won a City Council seat back in 2018, being the only non-White candidate for a Council seat in the Whitest state in the U.S....
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...
Republican state senator-elect who expressed Islamophobia in tweets “committed to renouncing” hate speech during meeting with Muslims
November 12th, 20210 NEW JERSEY – The Republican who defeated New Jersey's State Senate president last week has "committed to renouncing" hate speech amid criticism of old tweets he posted expressing Islamophobia, a Muslim advocacy group in the state said Wednesday. State Sen.-elect Edward Durr met with Muslim community leaders in the state last...
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......
Dearborn Heights: Constan, Wencel and Baydoun return to Council, Ahmad and Bryer newcomers
November 5th, 20210 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — With partial and full terms for City Council and clerk, a full term for treasurer and different proposals on the ballot this year, the results are in for all but one position. City Council One of the partial terms on the ballot was to finish out former Councilwoman Lisa Hicks-Clayton’s term when she was...
Dearborn: Three new Council members and Sareini clinches the Council presidency; nine Charter Commissioners elected
November 5th, 20210 DEARBORN — As a historic election comes to an end, the city will be welcoming three new faces to the City Council and nine Charter Commissioners. City Council All seven City Council seats were up for grabs, with four incumbents — Mike Sareini, Erin Byrnes, Leslie Herrick and Robert Abraham — running for re-election and......
Hamtramck’s Amer Ghalib to serve as city’s first Yemeni mayor after historic election
November 3rd, 20211 HAMTRAMCK — Amer Ghalib celebrated a decisive victory against a long-time incumbent mayor on Tuesday, in an election that marks the changing of political tides in the city's history. Ghalib may also be the first fully Yemeni American to serve as mayor of an American city, though Montgomery Township, New Jersey's Sadaf Jaffer,...
Bill Bazzi becomes first Arab American to be elected mayor; beats Council chair
November 3rd, 20210 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Mayor Bill Bazzi has beat challenger Council Chairwoman Denise Malinowski-Maxwell and will continue being mayor. Bazzi earned 73 percent of the vote for a partial term that ends this year and 72 percent of the vote for a full four-year term that follows. The partial term was to finish the term of former...
State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud makes history as Dearborn’s first Muslim and Arab American mayor
November 3rd, 20210 DEARBORN — State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud became the seventh mayor of Dearborn following the Nov. 2 election, beating Gary Woronchak by nearly 3,000 votes. The votes cast were 13,040 for Hammoud, giving him 54.6 percent, and 10,796 for Woronchak, giving him 45.2 percent. “The people of Dearborn spoke loudly,” Hammoud said....
Dearborn clerk office open for extended Election Day hours
November 1st, 20210 DEARBORN - The Dearborn City Clerk’s Office will be extending its operating hours to 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 2, for residents who need to register to vote and then complete their voting, and for people who are already registered to vote to drop off an absent voter (AV ballot). The Clerk’s Office is inside......
Let us make history on November 2
October 30th, 20211 Elections are always important. That is why, in every election since its inception, The Arab American News has encouraged the Arab American community to be involved in the decision-making process and to show up to vote and run for public offices. This local election is no different in terms of importance, but it is also unique in the...
The Arab American News endorsements for Dearborn’s municipal elections
October 30th, 20210 DEARBORN — With a historic election on the horizon, The Arab American News has announced its endorsements for mayor, City Council and Charter Revision Commission. The Arab American News made the decision of endorsing State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud for mayor and incumbent Mike Sareini, Mustapha Hammoud, Khodr Farhat, Samra’a Luqman,......
The Arab American News endorsements for Dearborn Heights’ municipal elections
October 30th, 20210 The Arab American News is endorsing three candidates for City Council, one for mayor and one for treasurer in the Nov. 2 election. For mayor, The Arab American News is endorsing incumbent Mayor Bill Bazzi for both the partial and full term. Bill Bazzi was appointed mayor on January 26 to succeed the late Daniel Paletko, who passed...
Why we chose not to endorse either candidate for Hamtramck mayor
October 30th, 20210 Endorsing candidates for important offices is a major responsibility for local organizations and newspapers. For an ethnic newspaper, the voice of the community we advocate for has to be taken into consideration, as should the issues that affect it the most. But decisions on endorsements cannot simply come about with a superficial......
