Low Voter Turnout Reported in Dearborn Primary

DEARBORN — The field of candidates running for city council in the November general election was narrowed significantly on Tuesday.

Fourteen candidates will continue on the campaign trail, down from 21. All five incumbents seeking re-election will be on the November ballot. Council President Thomas Tafelski received the most votes, with 5,637.

"I would like to thank the residents for their vote of confidence, but really we're back to 0-0 in terms of the election, because we still have to get through November," Tafelski said Tuesday night. "We have 100 days to go. I hope the citizens will keep me in the spot I'm in tonight."

Other front runners included Mike Sareini (5,302 votes), Susan Dabaja (4,696 votes), Patrick Melton (4,321 votes), Mark Shooshanian (4,302 votes), Brian O'Donnell (4,237 votes), Robert Abraham (4,057 votes), David Bazzy (4,005 votes), Tarek Baydoun (3,308 votes), Sharon Dulmage (3,258 votes), Jane Ahern (3,013 votes), Kristyn Taylor (2,277 votes), Colette Richards (2,172 votes), and Stephen Dobkowski, Jr. (2,161 votes).

Of those names listed above, nine are first-time candidates for city council.

"I think the independent candidates who were not backed by anyone but were able to get their name out there had a great showing at the polls," Tafelski said. "It's a credit to our residents who want a true check and balance in city government."

Kristyn Taylor said she is looking forward to debating some of her fellow candidates prior to November's election.

"I'll be ramping up the campaign so that I can be in the top seven in the general election," she said. "I was overwhelmed with where I finished on Tuesday night. It was a really exciting day for me."

Candidate Tarek Baydoun said a portion of his campaign relied on the youth vote in the community.

"I'd like to thank all of the Dearborn residents who came out and supported our campaign by voting yesterday. We especially thank each and every of the over 500 volunteers and donors that have helped our campaign thus far," Baydoun said.

Baydoun said in the next several weeks he plans to review the breakdown of votes per precinct in an effort to double his campaign efforts.

"We still have a long way to go," he said.

Calls to other candidates were not returned as of Wednesday morning.

According to information provided by the city, of the 61,120 registered voters, 11,795 ballots were cast, or roughly 19 percent of the eligible voting population.

In the race for mayor, incumbent John B. O'Reilly, Jr. will face newcomer Edward Binkley in November. Clerk Kathleen Buda will face Khalil Dakhlallah.