Muhith Mahmood set to take Hamtramck mayor's seat after ballot battle

Max Reinhart, The Detroit News on Nov 3, 2026

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After more than a year of electoral contention and court challenges, Muhith Mahmood will be sworn in as the mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, on Nov. 8.

The former council member, who appeared to have lost a tight race in the November 2025 general election only to come out on top after 37 disputed ballots were tabulated late last month, said he will take the oath of office at noon in the Hamtramck High School auditorium.

"I am excited," Mahmood said. "On the other hand, I just want to forget everything that happened in the past and move forward with good energy."

Meanwhile, Adam Alharbi, who was declared the winner in November and has served as mayor since January, has been removed from office as the city prepares to install Mahmood. He is now seeking a recount while his attorney has vowed to appeal the Wayne County Circuit Court's ruling regarding the 37 ballots that propelled Mahmood to victory.

Alharbi has been removed from the city's webpage showing its elected leaders, while council member Abu Musa is now listed as mayor pro tem.

Results to be certified

An agenda for the Wayne County Board of Canvassers' Nov. 4 meeting shows that the board is set to certify the results of the 2025 Hamtramck mayoral election — a full year to the day after Hamtramck voters cast their ballots.

The agenda also shows that the board will consider a petition filed by Alharbi seeking a recount.

Following initial tabulation in 2025, Alharbi was declared the winner by an 11-vote margin. But once the additional ballots were counted, Mahmood had 2,089 votes to Alharbi's 2,077.

The 37 absentee ballots in question were discovered the day after Election Day 2025, inside opened return envelopes in the Hamtramck city clerk’s office.

After they were discovered, the issue of whether to count them went before the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, which initially deadlocked, voting 2-2, effectively rejecting the ballots.

Mahmood filed suit in Wayne County Circuit Court, which initially sided with the canvassers and allowed the ballots to remain uncounted. Mahmood appealed, and in March 2026 the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed the Circuit Court decision.

Alharbi then appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case in August, leaving the Appeals Court’s ruling intact and sending the case back to Wayne County Circuit Court. Judge Kathleen McCarthy issued an order Sept. 30 directing the Board of Canvassers to count the 37 ballots.

"I have always been living in Hamtramck" since 2019, Mahmood said. "The judge went by the facts. I had years of evidence and she took a whole week to go through everything. There's no doubt that it was a fair judgment."

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