Election 2021: How will the city council race tighten up?

Now that the Primary Election for the city council race is over, candidates will be jockeying to make the final cut in the November Election.

By Charles Sercombe
The race to fill three city council seats was whittled down from eight candidates to six in the recent primary election.
The November election will produce the top three finishers, who will then go on to fill those council positions.
So, who will it be?
In council races, things can change quite a bit between the August primary and the November election, if history is any guide.
In the remaining six candidates, there is a 721 vote-spread between first-place finisher, Khalil Refai, and sixth-place finisher Lynn Blasely.
The second-place finisher is Amanda Jaczkowski, who was 202 votes behind Refai.
Muhith Mahmood trailed behind Jaczkowski by 362 votes, and Adam Albarmaki came in fourth, just 54 votes behind Mahmood.
It’s likely a safe bet that Refai and Jaczkowski will make the final cut in November.
As for the others, again, history teaches us that anything can happen. Voters will shift their alliances, and the numbers will tighten up.
There is only one candidate who previously served on council in this race, and it’s Abu Musa, who came in fifth – just 98 votes behind Albarmaki.
But the point spread between Mahmood, the third-place finisher, and Lynn Blasey, the sixth-place finisher, is just 173 votes.
That leaves plenty of opportunity for candidates to jockey up and down.
What’s likely to happen is that Hamtramck will have three new, fresh faces on council. This will be a seismic change in Hamtramck’s political scene.
Interestingly, in a rare occurrence, there are no incumbent candidates seeking re-election on council. Two seats are vacated because Councilmember Saad Almasmari ran for mayor instead, and Fadel Al-Marsoumi is simply not running again.
The third seat was vacated when former Councilmember Ian Perrotta abruptly resigned. That seat was filled by Carrie Beth Lasley, who had run for council before but failed. She is not seeking to keep that seat. Perrotta was in his last few months left in his term.
We reached out to Refai and Jaczkowski for their take on why they, as total newcomers, did so well.
Refai did not respond to requests for his thoughts, but Jaczkowski credited her success to her ongoing community outreach – not only during her campaign, but starting even before that.
“I really believe that the people of Hamtramck are confident in my credentials to make transparent decisions, while truly listening to what residents are saying,” Jaczkowski told The Review.
“I have a strong communication policy, and want to make sure that people know that they can reach out to the campaign page and/or email at any time with issues that they believe need my attention.”
Jaczkowski has a Masters Degree in Public Administration, and works at the non-profit agency United Way for Southeastern Michigan as an Agency Relations Specialist.
Refai serves in a volunteer role as chaplain for the Hamtramck Police Department.
On his Facebook campaign page, Refai says he has been attending city council meetings “since an early age.”
He does not provide a background on what he does for a living, but says he is running, in part, “to create a long-term plan for the city. A plan that promotes sustainable economic development, strong parks, and a sense of identity.”
Refai also says his late father, Abraham, was one of the first Yemeni immigrants to make the Hamtramck/Detroit area his new home.
His father was one of the founders of the earliest Hamtramck area mosque, Muath bin Jabil, on Miller St.
Posted Aug. 27, 2021