More than $1 million in campaign money was raised or transferred so far this year in the Dearborn races for mayor, council and a ballot proposal, according to records filed with Wayne County.
The seven candidates for Dearborn mayor, 18 candidates for seven council seats and opponents of a ballot proposal received contributions or transfers of about $1.03 million through the end of July, the bulk of that in contributions. Out of the $1 million, more than $640,000 has been spent this year, according to a Free Press analysis of campaign reports.
The surprising amount of money for a city of 94,000 residents reflects strong interest in the future leadership of the suburb whose voter turnout in Tuesday’s primary election was twice as high as neighboring Detroit. And with several months left in the nonpartisan election campaign, even more money is expected to be raised and spent.
The top two finishers in the mayoral race, state Rep. Abdullah Hammoud, D-Dearborn, 31, and former state Rep. and former Wayne County Commissioner Gary Woronchak, 66, will compete against each other in the November general election.
Four of the 18 candidates for council were eliminated after Tuesday’s primary, with 14 now competing for seven seats in November. There will also be a race for nine seats on the city’s charter commission after Tuesday’s primary, when voters approved revising the charter and creating a commission.
The high amount of spending — contributions in the Dearborn mayoral race alone are three times as much as in the 2017 race over a comparable time period — concerns some election observers.
“Unfortunately, this is part of a larger trend in Michigan politics where this level of spending in a contentious election is increasingly becoming the norm,” Simon Schuster, executive director of the nonpartisan Michigan Campaign Finance Network, told the Free Press on Friday. “$1 million is on the lower end for a close race in the Michigan House of Representatives, where districts usually represent about 90,000 Michiganders.”
Schuster added that “to see this level of spending in a local election with a general election still months away is a troublesome sign that these races are being fueled increasingly by outside sources, in turn diluting the impact of contributions from civically engaged Dearborn residents.”
This was the first time in 36 years that an incumbent mayor was not on the ballot in Dearborn, sparking a scramble for mayor that drew high interest. And floods in late June drew an outpouring of concern that also drove turnout, voters said.
The Free Press looked at campaign pre-primary statements and also late contribution reports.
Here’s a rough breakdown of the $1 million that was raised or transferred in Dearborn races by the end of July:
- About $550,000 in direct contributions for the mayoral race.
- About $305,000 in direct contributions among the city council candidates. Some of that money includes contributions to themselves.
- $90,000 loan from candidate Hussein Berry to himself, $45,000 transfer from Rep. Hammoud’s state committee, $6,200 transfer from Woronchak’s state and county committees.
- $40,000 for Citizens for a Better Dearborn to oppose revising the city charter. (Their efforts failed and voters approved it.)
Rep. Hammoud, the top mayoral finisher with 42% of the vote, received and spent the most among the mayoral candidates. Records show he received more than $230,000 in contributions and an additional $45,000 was transferred into his campaign from a state committee.
Hammoud has spent about $154,000.
In contrast, the second-place finisher, Woronchak, who got 18.5% of the vote, only had about $37,500 in contributions this year, $6,232 of which were transfers from state and county committees. He spent about $33,000.
That’s significantly less than third-place mayoral finisher Dearborn City Council President Susan Dabaja, who was seen as the front-runner earlier this year but failed to advance.
Dabaja received about $163,000 and spent about $75,300 through mid-July. She garnered 16.9% of the vote.
‘Staggering’
“The money raised for the city primary elections in Dearborn is staggering,” Woronchak told the Free Press on Friday. “It’s ridiculous, it’s even sort of obscene, and of course, it’s all legal. Our system is set up so that it’s possible to actually buy a seat in government. It doesn’t work every time, but you can build a lot of image and drive a lot of votes if you have the right amount of money. And it certainly limits who can successfully participate in elections.”
More:Dearborn residents: How long did council know about mayor’s cognitive issues?
More:State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud is top vote-getter in Dearborn mayor primary
Woronchak said that when he was a state and county legislator, he worked on improving transparency in campaign finance.
“I introduced legislation as a state representative that established the online campaign finance filing system for state-level candidates,” Woronchak said. “As chair of the Wayne County Commission, I helped move an ordinance and approved funding for the county clerk to establish the similar system we now have for local candidates.”
In contrast to other parts of the region, Wayne County does have a more transparent system available to the public online to view records, Schuster and Woronchak said.
“At least we have a system of campaign finance reporting that provides some transparency by requiring reports to be put online, for any voters who want that information to make a decision,” Woronchak said.
Movie-like campaigns
The race for Dearborn mayor saw candidates with movie-like video clips incorporating drone shots. Social media sites were flooded with ads.
In Dearborn and other cities, “what used to be $30 spaghetti dinners to raise enough money to buy some lawn signs and stamps has turned into people lining up with checks of $1,000 or $2,000, the sort of money that most people can’t spare, to pay for extensive technology and motion-picture quality videos for social media,” Woronchak said. “So the money not only defines an upper class of candidates and campaigns, but also an elite class of donors.”
Hammoud did not comment Friday, but last month he spoke to the Free Press about his contributions.
“My team and I are proud of the historic support for our campaign as we seek to lead Dearborn into the future,” Hammoud said. “Ninety-five percent of our contributions come from individuals and we have $0 from any corporations. … Our focus is going to be on people and not special interests.”
City council race
In the race for city council, candidate Lola Elzein raised and spent the most, with $59,383 in contributions that included a $5,000 loan to herself. She spent more than $24,200.
“I am grateful for all of the contributions made to my campaign,” Elzein said. “My donor base is made up of residents, family, friends, small business owners and colleagues. This is a testament to the community’s belief in my ability to help better our city.”
Elzein finished ninth among the 18 candidates and will compete in November.
Of the roughly $308,000 raised this year by the city council candidates through the end of July, about two-thirds of that was spent.
The other council candidates who raised the most money include:
- Saeid Alawathi, with $36,475 in contributions, spending $26,707. He finished in 14th place and advanced.
- A Wayne County manager, Kamal Alsawafy, who raised $35,055 and spent $22,436. He finished in 10th place and advanced.
- Mustapha Hammoud, who got $34,643 in direct and in-kind contributions, spending $15,826. He finished in 11th place and advanced.
“I’m thankful for the support I received,” Mustapha Hammoud said. “It shows our broad-based support across the city.”
Hammoud said the increased turnout shows “the passion coming out from the city. … People want good leadership and they want new leadership.”
Campaign filings
Out of the approximately $640,000 spent by all candidates and others during the campaign so far this year, here’s a breakdown:
- $429,000 by the mayoral candidates
- $209,000 on the city council races
- $5,600 by Citizens for a Better Dearborn opposing ballot proposal to review city charter
Candidates are required to file campaign reports by July 23.
“We still need to make improvements,” Woronchak said of the campaign financial disclosures. “More filings should be required during an election year. Voters shouldn’t have to wait until July 23 ahead of an Aug. 3 primary to get their first look at who has money pouring in from where. Absentee ballots were sent out a month before the first filing was required, which kind of defeats the purpose of transparency.”
Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com or 313-223-4792. Twitter @nwarikoo
