Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud challenged by engineer Nagi Almudhegi

The mayor of Dearborn is looking for a second four-year time period as he defends himself towards critics.

• Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud is being challenged by Nagi Almughedi, an engineer.
• Religion and Dearborn’s altering demographics are being debated within the race for mayor.
• Almughedi mentioned he’ll deliver “widespread sense” to Metropolis Corridor whereas Hammoud touts his file on combating crime.

Rising up the son of Yemeni immigrants in a low-income neighborhood within the south finish of Dearborn, Nagi Almudhegi went on to graduate from the College of Michigan-Ann Arbor with a chemical engineering diploma, discovering success as an IT supervisor and engineer managing initiatives that he mentioned saved firms thousands and thousands of {dollars}. And now, Almudhegi, 51, desires to use his abilities to managing the town of Dearborn as he challenges Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, 35, operating for a second four-year time period.

“I need to get again to somewhat bit extra of widespread sense from our management,” Almudhegi, 51, advised the Free Press in an interview Friday, Oct. 24. “Rising up in a poor neighborhood after which dwelling the American dream, I need to give again now to the the common Joes who do not essentially have a voice. … We need to simply be capable to reside in a peaceable, protected neighborhood and have dependable metropolis companies. Over the previous couple of years, I’ve simply seen a degradation in our lifestyle right here for the unusual, common resident. One of many largest the reason why I put my identify there for the election is to return to a protected and safe Dearborn.”

Almughedi, who launched his marketing campaign in February, has been hammering Hammoud this yr on crime, blight, and wasteful spending, describing him as a “profession politician” who has develop into divisive and out of contact with residents, with a wage increased than the governor. He worries that Hammoud is giving Dearborn a nasty identify nationally with a few of his current remarks and actions as the town’s inhabitants declined 2.3% from 2020 to 2024.

“In relation to public security, I am sorry, however we will should get quite a bit harder,” Almudhegi mentioned. “The reckless driving is uncontrolled, and we have to have insurance policies once more that make sense, and we will get it below management. And it is going to begin with ensuring that we’ve sufficient cops, and that the cops that we’ve are literally patrolling the streets, not sitting behind the desk.”

Hammoud this yr has typically touted the town’s efforts in lowering crime, saying they plan to rent extra cops and that burglaries, robberies and residential invasions are down. Hammoud’s newest marketing campaign video, posted Oct. 23 on Instagram, ends with the message: “Decrease Crime, Actual Outcomes.” Hammoud has additionally defended the town spending $720,000 on a contract for a real-time video monitoring program Almudhegi fears may result in surveillance and a few fear may goal pro-Palestinian protesters.

Elected in 2021 with 54.6% of the vote, Hammoud, beforehand a state consultant, upset then-Council President Susan Dabaja after flooding that summer season outraged residents who blamed Dabaja and Metropolis Corridor for the hundreds of properties broken. Talking final month on Sept. 20, Almudhegi slammed Hammoud for not asserting plans to unravel the town’s flooding issues, which he had vowed to deal with when he ran for mayor. Just a few after Almudhegi’s rally, Hammoud held a press convention, saying the town is engaged on a number of initiatives to alleviate any future flooding issues.

One other large challenge that has sprung up through the marketing campaign in current months is create unity in Dearborn as the town’s demographics shift. Throughout Hammoud’s first time period, census information revealed {that a} majority of Dearborn’s inhabitants was of Arab descent for the primary time in its historical past, turning into the one Arab-majority metropolis within the U.S. Hammoud was criticized by Almudhegi final month after the mayor blasted a Christian minister talking at a council assembly in objection to road indicators renamed after an Arab American advocate, telling the minister he isn’t welcome and that Hammoud would throw a parade when he left the town.

“You could have to have the ability to speak to folks whom you disagree with,” Almudhegi mentioned. “I like speaking to folks. I like speaking, having discussions with individuals who who disagree with me. … However sadly, this present administration and my opponent, he behaves in a means that mainly divides folks and tells folks, ‘you are not welcome right here.’ What mayor really would do one thing like that that makes completely no sense. It is very unprofessional to inform a resident: ‘You do not belong right here, we’ll throw a parade.’ … I’d by no means, ever say that in one million years.”

Hammoud has not responded to media shops about his remarks, however addressed the controversy at a council assembly on Sept. 23, saying the town has needed to take care of bigoted assaults over time.

The mayor’s place, as with its metropolis council and clerk’s positions, are non-partisan. However partisan politics has performed an element within the marketing campaign and public perceptions of the 2 mayoral candidates. Hammoud is a progressive Democrat who has supported Bernie Sanders, however didn’t endorse Kamala Harris final yr attributable to her assist for Israel, angering some Democrats. Trump received Dearborn, as Harris didn’t win over Arab American voters within the metropolis. Almughedi supported Trump, and Republicans attended his marketing campaign kickoff in assist, together with Tudor Dixon, the 2022 Republican nominee for governor, and Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib. However Almughedi mentioned he is now an impartial.

“Most of my assist might be not even coming from the Republicans,” Almughedi mentioned. “The general public that I speak to on the road should not Republicans; they’re impartial. … I do not need to be beholden to any specific political social gathering, so if one social gathering says one thing silly, I do not need to be pressured to defend one thing silly.”

Hammoud in February, whereas talking on the American Moslem Society, a historic mosque within the south finish of Dearborn, mentioned he isn’t supporting the Democratic or Republican social gathering.

“I believe final yr (2024), we demonstrated, I am not right here to advocate on behalf of the Hizb Democratee (‘Democratic Celebration’ in Arabic) or the Hizb Jumhuriyya (Republican Celebration),” Hammoud advised congregants of the mosque in a speech posted on-line. “I did not endorse Joe Biden, Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. … I am right here to let you know that neither social gathering do not look after you. And so what we have to do is put Dearborn first, and that is what we’re doing.”

Extra: Dearborn Mayor Hammoud raises $446K in reelection bid, a number of instances as a lot as opponent

Hammoud’s remarks on Feb. 15 on the American Moslem Society had been a part of an try by him to win over conservative Muslims who had voted for Trump, partially over social points. The Dearborn mayoral election might mark the primary time within the historical past of the U.S. that each of the candidates operating for mayor are Muslim, however they’ve differing visions of how their religion intersects with politics. In Hamtramck, each of the mayoral candidates on the November poll are additionally Muslim. Hammoud and Almudhegi have each spoken about faith in public settings, with Hammoud more and more public about his religion this yr as he tries to reassure Muslims he’s observant, posting about his Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

2022 controversy over books shapes mayoral race

Three years in the past on a Sunday afternoon, Almudhegi stood on the steps of Henry Ford Centennial Library at a rally towards some LGBTQ+ books in Dearborn public faculties he and others noticed as too sexually specific for youngsters.

“I might like to start out off to begin with with a prayer,” Almudhegi mentioned on the Sept. 25, 2022, rally. “And I will learn recite the chapter on Fatiha (opening of Quran) in Arabic after which I’ll learn the English translation. … I search refuge in God Almighty, from Devil, the cursed one, within the identify of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. Information us to the straight path, the trail of these whom You could have blessed, and never these whom you might be angered with, nor these whom are astray.”

The day after that protest, Hammoud launched a statement supporting the books.

“The identical harmful ideology that after thought of folks like me ‘an issue’ in Dearborn is now being revived below the guise of preserving liberty,” Hammoud mentioned in his statement defending the LGBTQ+ books. “In relation to our metropolis’s libraries, for the sake of our youngsters, no ebook shall be eliminated off the cabinets.”

Hammoud’s assertion in 2022 in assist of LGBTQ+ books drew condemnation from Republican activists and a few conservative Muslims in Dearborn, who felt his views had been at odds with their beliefs. Just a few weeks later, on Oct. 10, 2022, a whole bunch of protesters packed a faculties board assembly and shut it down in protest of the books.

Three years later, on Sept. 20, Almudhegi spoke once more in entrance of the identical library, outlining his imaginative and prescient if elected mayor and touched upon the 2022 rally. He mentioned his expertise after that compelled him to run for mayor.

“Three years in the past, we had a rally right here and I really was a part of that rally, the place we protested sure supplies that was in our public faculties,” Almughedi mentioned in September. “And I nearly misplaced my job due to that. We and a bunch of different mother and father mentioned … a few of this materials is just not applicable for youngsters. My opponent (Hammoud) disagreed and had been attacked viciously. … I am not going to make any apologies for standing with mother and father. … And the truth that in the USA of America, you aren’t in a position to communicate your thoughts and so they’re coming after you in your work, get you fired, make issues tough for you, was one of many causes I made a decision to run for mayor within the first place.”

Hammoud discovered himself below hearth after his 2022 assertion in assist of LGBTQ+ books and since has been publicly stressing his religion, making an attempt to show he’s authentically Muslim. On the February city corridor, Hammoud spoke alongside Dearborn Metropolis Council President Michael Sareini, who’s operating for reelection, and Police Chief Issa Shahin, the primary Muslim police chief in Dearborn. In his February remarks, Hammoud mentioned his Sept. 2022 assertion in assist of LGBTQ+ books was misinterpreted, saying he doesn’t personally assist something that will battle together with his personal values.

“There is a assertion that I made a number of years in the past, and many individuals had been upset,” Hammoud mentioned. “Lots of people, I believe, misinterpreted what I supposed to say. I don’t endorse anyone’s way of life. My duty is to take look after the town. The one factor I am answerable for is the entire metropolis of Dearborn and my family. I’ve two daughters, Alhamdulillah (thanks be to God’ in Arabic), and I am elevating them the way in which that I used to be raised. … I do not endorse anyone’s way of life which doesn’t align with how I elevate my way of life.”

Hammoud, utilizing non secular phrases in Arabic, then touched upon Islamic teachings, saying it does not intrude on what folks do in their very own properties.

“Actually, Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala, tells you what you do in your individual family is between you and Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala,” Hammoud mentioned, utilizing the Arabic phrases for “God” and “Could He be glorified and exalted.”

“My level is: I look after the entire metropolis, to be sure that metropolis companies are delivered,” Hammoud added. “When you’ve problems with property taxes, no one’s way of life issues in relation to speaking about property taxes. While you need to make investments within the parks, what issues is just not anyone’s way of life, what issues is: Are we making investments within the parks? While you discuss crime and security, what issues is our police responding. What does not matter is what persons are doing in their very own privateness of their dwelling. I don’t look after that. I do not endorse any of that. And I am not right here to endorse it. Sadly, folks took an announcement out of context. I want I may have responded. It was additionally an election yr that yr, and so everyone stored saying, ‘if he responds or says something is due to the elections.'”

Sareini additionally pressured his religion on the February occasion within the mosque, making an attempt to elucidate a council decision permitted earlier in assist of the LGBTQ+ group, saying the council passes related resolutions for different teams and that he has gone on the Hajj pilgrimage.

“Did I vote towards it?” Sareini advised the congregation at American Moslem Society in regards to the council decision. “No, I did not vote towards it. Did I provide (the council decision)? Completely not. And I’ve 5 youngsters. I went to the Hajj. I didn’t endorse that. However I do not down them (LGBTQ+ folks). It isn’t my enterprise.”

Extra: Nagi Almudhegi kicks off marketing campaign for Dearborn mayor with assist of Republicans

Extra: Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud kicks off reelection marketing campaign: The town is ‘thriving’

At his September rally, Almughedi spoke about Hammoud’s remarks in February within the south finish mosque, saying he switches his views relying on his viewers.

“Most profession politicians, it’s important to have a look at them like actors,” Almudhegi mentioned. “So once they go to a mosque within the south finish, they’re going to play the position of a conservative Muslim. After which they go elsewhere and so they’ll play the position of a progressive. … I name it hypocrisy.”

Brian Stone, a Dearborn resident who’s homosexual and as soon as ran towards Hammoud for state consultant, was upset with Hammoud’s remarks on the mosque, lately posting them on his Fb web page, saying they’re anti-gay.

“I’m very involved that our Mayor determined to share ignorant, homophobic feedback that contradict the fashionable medical and psychological understanding of how sexual orientation works,” Stone advised the Free Press. “Anytime somebody chooses to espouse bigoted or hateful views, or begins punching down and taking potshots on the powerless, it alienates our metropolis from the remainder of the nation and lowers us within the esteem of our countrymen. If this type of hateful language proves to be politically useful to the Mayor, then I believe, sadly, we’re simply going to see extra of it sooner or later.”

Hammoud has additionally spoken about his religion at non secular occasions within the Shia Muslim group throughout his time as mayor, linking the struggles of a grandson of Prophet Mohammed within the seventh century to the town he leads. His uncle is the non secular chief of the Islamic Middle of America, Dearborn mosque based in 1963. Hammoud attended the eleventh annual Ashura “March for Justice” in Dearborn, posting a video of himself on the occasion through which he mentioned his household had a stall providing meals and water to members.

“Clearly, Dearborn is that group that understands what it means to take a stand for justice, which we’re extraordinarily happy with, following within the footsteps of the grandson of the Prophet, peace by upon him,” Hammoud mentioned within the video. He reiterated that message the subsequent month on the annual Arbaeen procession, one other Shia non secular occasion, saying it is necessary for Dearborn residents to march for justice.

“The message of the grandson of (Prophet Muhammad) is a message that’s as related because it was 1,400 years in the past,” Hammoud mentioned on a sweltering Saturday in August. “We all know that there are numerous injustices throughout this globe, from Gaza to Lebanon … to Iraq, to Yemen. And it is necessary that we right here within the metropolis of Dearborn proceed to march, to indicate people that Hussein is just not just for the Shias, however he’s for all of mankind.”

In his remarks in February, Hammoud additionally touched upon the variety of Dearborn’s Arab American communities, referencing its Yemeni, Lebanese, Palestinian and Iraqi populations.

“Sadly, although, after we come right here, we discover methods to divide ourselves,” Hammoud mentioned.

Hammoud was born in Michigan to immigrants from Lebanon and Almudhegi immigrated from Yemen on the age of 6 alongside together with his household. The Yemeni American group has struggled to amass political energy within the metropolis, the place there has by no means been a council member of Yemeni descent. Hammoud has robust assist amongst Lebanese Individuals whereas Almudhegi has a base of assist amongst Yemeni Individuals, their marketing campaign finance reviews present. Yemerican PAC, a Yemeni American political motion group, endorsed Almudhegi final month. However Almudhegi stresses he is combating for all of Dearborn.

“This id politics, we will should throw that within the dustbin,” Almudhegi mentioned. “It is tearing folks aside. … I need to reside in a colorblind society. And in the end, it is your character and the way you deal with folks. … I do not care should you’re outdated, younger, wealthy, poor, white, black, Christian, Muslim. … Each single resident is welcome right here in Dearborn, and we will work collectively.”

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com, X @nwarikoo or Facebook @nwarikoo