Dearborn school board election results 2026: Hammoud leads

Mohamed Ali Hammoud, Adel Mozip and Mallak Anani held the top three positions Wednesday morning in the race for three full-term Dearborn Board of Education seats, according to Wayne County’s unofficial election results.

As of the county’s 8:31 a.m. EST update Nov. 4, Hammoud had 18,720 votes, Mozip had 18,604 and Anani had 17,407. Ali Bazzi led a separate partial-term contest with 18,899 votes, or 57.25%.

All 44 precincts were reporting in each contest, but additional ballots may remain to be counted. These unofficial totals do not establish the winners.

Seven candidates competed for four seats: three six-year terms and one partial term ending Dec. 31, 2028, according to the city’s sample ballot.

Six-year terms: Three seats

The following totals reflect Wayne County’s report updated at 8:31:15 a.m. EST Nov. 4:

Candidate or vote category	Votes	Percentage
Mohamed Ali Hammoud	18,720	22.73%
Adel A. Mozip	18,604	22.59%
Mallak Anani	17,407	21.13%
Nasri Sobh	13,928	16.91%
Mary K. Petlichkoff	13,256	16.09%
Write-in	456	0.55%
Total candidate votes	82,371	100.00%

Voters could select up to three candidates. Percentages represent shares of candidate votes, not shares of individual voters.

Anani led fourth-place Sobh by 3,479 votes in that update.

Mozip, Petlichkoff and Sobh were the three incumbents in the contest. Anani and Hammoud were challengers.

Mozip has served as a trustee since 2019 and was board president in 2025. Petlichkoff was first elected in 2008 and reelected in 2014 and 2020, according to their candidate responses to The Arab American News.

Sobh, an attorney and adjunct professor, was appointed to the board in 2025, according to the district’s board biographies.

Anani is an attorney and former high school teacher who grew up in Dearborn Public Schools. Hammoud is an attorney who serves as chairman of the Dearborn Area Chamber of Commerce and has a son in the district. Both described their backgrounds in The Arab American News questionnaire.

Partial term ending Dec. 31, 2028

Bazzi led Nofila Haidar in the separate partial-term contest in the same county update.

Candidate or vote category	Votes	Percentage
Ali K. Bazzi	18,899	57.25%
Nofila J. Haidar	13,683	41.45%
Write-in	432	1.31%
Total	33,014

Voters could select one candidate. Bazzi led Haidar by 5,216 votes. Percentages may not total 100% because of rounding.

The seat opened after trustee Hussein Berry resigned to run for the Michigan House of Representatives, according to Yemeni American News.

Bazzi was appointed to replace Berry. He has a background in business consulting and has three children in the district, according to his district biography.

Haidar is a real estate agent and Dearborn Public Schools graduate who ran for the board in 2014, Yemeni American News reported.

Bond proposal also on the ballot

Voters also considered a $1.51 billion bond proposal that would replace or remodel every school in the district over 20 years.

The Board of Education approved the ballot language at its June 22 meeting. The proposal called for a 3.14-mill increase, but the district said Dearborn homeowners would see no change in their overall combined city and school tax rate because of offsetting millage reductions.

All five full-term candidates told The Arab American News they supported the bond, though several stressed the need for spending oversight.

Bond results were not included in the returns used for this update.

What the board oversees

The board oversees both Dearborn Public Schools and Henry Ford College, approving budgets, hiring and evaluating the district superintendent and college president, and conducting oversight on behalf of voters, according to the district.