Although Hamtramck’s mayoral election is officially nonpartisan, the man who “won” is not.
Muhith Mahmood is a Democrat who has held party leadership roles. He served as the Democratic Party’s 13th District Vice Chair and as president of the Michigan Bangladeshi-American Democratic Caucus (MI-BADC). He endorsed Kamala Harris in 2024, has union leadership experience (including as sergeant-at-arms with Unite Here! Local 24), and was represented in the election dispute by Mark Brewer, a former Michigan Democratic Party chair.
Adam Alharbi describes himself as an independent. He has said he has never belonged to a political party, does not participate in partisan activities, and focuses on nonpartisan local issues. Some coverage has linked him to Trump-supporting allies, including former Mayor Amer Ghalib, but Alharbi identifies himself as an independent.
(In the photo, Alharbi is on the left and Mahmood is on the right.)
Muhith Mahmood was sworn in on November 8.
The 37 ballots were found in open envelopes and Democrat Mahmood gained the majority of them! Muhith Mahmood got 29 votes and Adam Alharbi got only 6! The remaining 2 went to other candidates or were otherwise accounted for in the tally.
Of course he did. Have you ever seen a ballot dump where the Independent or Republican won most of them?!
It looks like the Arabs and Muslims are being cheated by Democrats, too.
- Challenger Muhith Mahmood leads Mayor Adam Alharbi by 12 votes in new, unofficial results released by the Wayne County Board of Canvassers.
- Updated vote totals: Mahmood has 2,089 votes, compared with 2,077 for Alharbi.
- Of the newly counted ballots, Mahmood received 29 votes, Alharbi received six, and the remaining two went to other candidates or were otherwise accounted for in the tally.
- The ballots were discovered inside open envelopes in the Hamtramck city clerk’s office the day after the November 2025 election
- A judge ordered the ballots counted in September. The Wayne County Board of Canvassers reviewed and verified them Friday, Oct. 16.
- The board said it cannot certify the new totals while a lawsuit over Mahmood’s residency remains pending.
- A Wayne County Circuit Court hearing on allegations that Mahmood does not live in Hamtramck is scheduled for Oct. 22.
Nearly a year after the 2025 election, 37 contested ballots found in the Hamtramck city clerk’s office were counted Friday — and the new results could change who sits in the mayor’s office.
The Wayne County Board of Canvassers announced new, unofficial results showing challenger Muhith Mahmood now leads with 2,089 votes, compared to Mayor Adam Alharbi’s 2,077 votes.
The ballots were discovered inside open envelopes in the Hamtramck city clerk’s office the day after the November 2025 election. In September, a judge ordered the ballots to be counted…
Alharbi, alongside his attorney, said he will not concede and plans to challenge the results. He also raised concerns about the condition of the ballots when they were discovered.
“There’s a lot of issues in Hamtramck and we just feel like due to all of that, these ballots were found open and they are untrusted,” Alharbi said.
His attorney, Nabih H. Ayad, called on federal authorities and the state attorney general to investigate.
“We’ve been calling upon the Feds to step in as I said from day one,” Ayad said. “Do your homework. Let’s see whose DNA is all on those 37 ballots. Why are they open? Who opened the 37 ballots? And where’s the DNA? Where’s the fingerprints? We’re calling on the Feds to come clean house.” READ MORE
The inroads President Donald Trump made with Arab American and Muslim voters in Michigan in the 2024 election will be put to the test later this year as residents prepare for two mayoral elections: one in a town where a pro-Trump candidate is leading, and another whose leading candidate has said he’s “fed up” with all sides as it relates to the Israel-Gaza war.
Trump won over Arab Americans in Michigan last November, largely cementing his victory over former Vice President Kamala Harris by flipping the city of Dearborn, which has the proportionally largest Muslim population in the United States, for the first time in over two decades. He was the first Republican to win the city since former President George W. Bush in 2000.
This fall, the cities of Dearborn Heights and Hamtramck are preparing for general mayoral elections. In 2024, Trump won Dearborn Heights, which is not majority Muslim, and made significant gains in Hamtramck, which does have a Muslim-majority population.
Adam Alharbi is the front-runner to become the next mayor of Hamtramck, a win for Trump allies, as Alharbi is the former campaign manager of current Mayor Amer Ghalib. Ghalib, a Trump supporter, made history in 2021 by being elected the first Arab and Muslim mayor of Hamtramck, which has storied Polish roots. Ghalib is not running for reelection because Trump picked him as the U.S. ambassador to Kuwait. READ MORE
WATCH: New Michigan Mayor Muhith Mahmood Sworn In, Can Barely Speak English!