Hamtramck results are in …
By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck has a new mayor, Adam Alharbi, who was considered the most likely to win.
But it’s almost still too close to call.
At about 11 p.m. when election results came in, Alharbi won by only 11 votes – yes, 11 votes — over City Councilmember Muhith Mahmood.
It’s so close that City Clerk Rana Faraj said it could change when the votes are counted and verified by the city’s Board of Canvassers.
Even then, there is a possibility of one of the candidates calling for a recount.
Write-in mayoral candidate Lynn Blasey came in with only 502 votes.
Alharbi, who was endorsed by Mayor Amer Ghalib, won with 2,009 votes.
Mahmood garnered 1,998 votes.
(Mayor Ghalib did not seek re-election after serving one term. Instead, he hopes to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the next ambassador to Kuwait.)
In the city council race, as expected incumbent Abu Musa topped the field of six candidates with 1,645 votes – with second-place finisher Nayeem Choudhury, a former councilmember, just 11 – yes, 11 again – votes behind with 1,634 votes.
Third-place finisher, newcomer Yousef Saed finished with 1,437 votes.
All top three candidates will go on to start new four-year terms in January.
In all 4,624 voters participated in Tuesday’s election — or 32 percent of the registered voters — with 1,601 voters voting in person and the majority of voters 3,023 voting by absentee ballot.
Tuesday was a sunny day with temperatures in the low 60s, although a cold wind picked up by mid-afternoon.
That was the most peaceful aspect of the day. A couple of scuffles that looked like they may break out into a fight – or as one reserve police officer called, it “fisticuffs”– happened outside the Senior Plaza on Holbrook, and also at the Community Center.
In both instances independent journalist Ahmed Sharaf, of the YUC News Network, who is also known as “Sunglasses Man” because he is always wearing sunglasses, seemed to be in the center of the disputes. Just what the disputes were about was not clear since the combatants spoke in Arabic.
But from what could be gleamed from Facebook posts it seemed a number of people were taking issue with Sharaf’s journalism, calling it “fake news.”
So for those unfamiliar to the rough and tumble side of Hamtramck politics: It can sometimes erupt into a contact sport. Or, close enough.
Also hanging over the day was the belief by some that voting mattered little since it’s suspected that some candidates and their supporters harvested ballots.
Phillip Salatrik posted a graphic saying “I didn’t vote today” to mock the sticker voters are given at precincts that say “I voted today.”
In his post, Salatrik said: “Because you’re a horrible, horrible government that lies and cheats, and I’m just so mad at you City of Hamtramck.”
Chris Schneider, who founded Hamtramck’s art collective Hatch, went even darker on social media, saying before the election results were known:
“The election is over. In this city, mail-in ballots are all that matter. Might as well just ask the candidates how many ballots they harvested and let them hold office since this is how it has been operating the past decade with no accountability.”
Mayoral election vote results:
Adam Alharbi: 2,009
Muhith Mahmood: 1,998
Write-in candidate Lynn Blasey: 502
City Council election vote results:
Abu Musa: 1,645
Nayeem Choudhury: 1,634
Yousuf Saed: 1,437
Luqman Saleh: 1,368
Abdulmalik Kassim: 1,367
Motahar Fadhel: 1,253
Write-in candidate Joe Strzalka: not available
Write-in candidate Diane Elizabeth Frkan: not available
Posted Nov. 5, 2025
