August election is coming up

Mister Bangladesh. Photo Facebook

By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck’s election season is now officially off and running.
Absentee ballots have already been sent out, which has prompted a number of observations among residents on social media.
As usual, there are some unique quirks among some of the candidates – namely: “Who the hell is Mister Bangladesh? Is this for real and legal?”
That question was posed on social media by Joni Sobczak.
For the record, yes, there is a Mister Bangladesh, and he’s for real and, yes, he answers to Mister. But how did he go from being named Tuhin Chowdhury to being Mister Bangladesh?
We’ll let Chowdhury, er, Mister Bangladesh explain:
“I changed my name after becoming a USA citizen, which was at the time I lost my Bangladeshi passport,” he told The Review. “I always respect my USA identity, and I believe that I am American. And I am ready to sacrifice my life for America.”
So, that’s the answer to that.
Mister Bangladesh is one of four candidates running for the position of mayor in the upcoming Aug. 5 Primary Election. So far, he seems to have attracted the most attention, likely because of his moniker.
Fellow mayoral candidate Khan Hossain took issue with that a little in his reply to Sobczak, saying:
“I am surprised you haven’t heard of the three of us,” in reference to the three other mayoral candidates on the ballot.
He continued: “Because Mr. Bangladesh seems to be the least active with his campaign.”
And, with this being an election year, Hossain stirred things up further by claiming this about his opponents: “One doesn’t live in the city. One doesn’t pay taxes. One doesn’t speak English. I wish I made this up.”
Fellow mayoral candidate Adam Alharbi — who appears to be the favored candidate, and is being endorsed by Mayor Amer Ghalib (who is not seeking re-election) — responded to that accusation, by saying:
“Khan Hossain, I don’t know which one is me in your 3 opponents, but none of them apply to me. When you can’t beat an opponent with qualifications, experience and vision for the city, you’ll have no other option but to spread lies.”
Whether Alharbi expected this or not, Jo Tomaszewski then questioned him about the display of pride flags – which has been a flash point in the city’s growing cultural divide with the conservative Muslim community here.
“Adam Alharbi will you be willing to let the Pride flag fly again at City Hall? Will you be welcoming to new Council members who may disagree with you? Just 2 of the questions I have off the top of my head,” Tomaszewski said.
Alharbi replied: “Jo Tomaszewski I believe Hamtramck should be a welcoming and inclusive city for everyone. While I know this has been a deeply debated issue, I support finding ways to show that all residents belong and are valued. I am committed to working together with the community to ensure that Hamtramck reflects our diversity while respecting the values of one another.”
The pride flag issue stems from the mayor and city council, a few years ago, banning the display of the flag on public property, saying that it offends some in the community, and that banning it was an act of “neutrality” on the issue.
That ban drew national and international media attention, and spurred state Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is gay, to condemn the mayor and council, saying that they are a “national embarrassment.”
(Mayor Amer Ghalib is not seeking re-election in hopes of having the U.S. Senate confirm him as the next ambassador to Kuwait. He is President Trump’s nominee for the position.)
In other quirky aspects of this year’s campaign season, critics on social media have pounced on some of the campaign literature issued by candidates.
Take city council candidate Motahar Fadhel, who describes himself as a “virtuous sanitizer.”
That prompted former city councilmember Phillip Kwik to ask: “What does he sanitize virtuously?”
All we can guess is that something got lost in translation.
And there are some candidates who definitely could benefit from using the aid of a proof reader to look over their campaign literature.
Step right up, Mahfuzur Rahman, who spells Hamtramck as “Hamtramick,” and not once but three times. He also spells the name of his street campaign address as being on “Canif.”
Sorry, Rahman, but it’s spelled Hamtramck and Caniff.
He also committed questionable syntax by saying, “My vision is work together to make Hamtramick more better, more best and more loving.”
As for the curious spelling that prompted Malgorzata Sokolowska to comment on social media:
“Don’t want to be rude but if someone is advertising themselves for a city position, they should check their spelling.”
And, as for the “more better, more best and more loving” slogan, that reminded Joni Sobczak of a certain presidential First Lady, and her campaign for all of us to “Be Better.”
“Sounds like Melania Trump,” Sobczak said.
Just to recap, here’s the candidate lineup for the Aug. 5 Primary election:
The following candidates are seeking the city’s top job of mayor:
• Adam Alharbi
• Khandaker Showkat Hossain
• Mister Bangladesh
• Muhith Mahmood
And, for city council, the ballot includes the following candidates:
• Joseph Strzalka
• Diane Frkan
• Rezaul Chowdhury
• Nayeem Choudhury
• Motahar Fadhel
• Yousuf Saed
• Abdumalik Kassim
• Abu Musa
• Luqman Saleh
• Russ Gordon
• Mahfuzur Rahman
• Khalid Al Qsaimi
In the mayoral race, the primary election will whittle down the candidates to the two top-vote getters, who will go on to battle it out in the November General Election.
In the council election in August, the top six finishers will advance to the General Election, where the final three candidates will be selected by voters.
There are no other election items on the ballot.
Posted July 11, 2025