Ann Arbor mayoral candidate Yousef Rabhi has declared victory after taking an early lead in Tuesday’s primary election.
In one of Washtenaw County’s most hotly contested primary races, Rabhi, a self-described Democratic Socialist and member of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, earned 57 percent of voter support over Taylor's 42 percent of the vote.
I am just overwhelmed with gratitude for this community. It has been just an incredible journey, a very difficult journey of course with all the negative mail and negative advertising that was put out there. It took a personal toll on me but at the end of the day I wanted to stay positive, I wanted to run this campaign clean. I wanted to make it about the people of this community and at the end of the day that's what prevailed.
As of 11:45 p.m. all 41 precincts had been partially counted with Yousef winning 12,805 to Taylor's 9,438 votes. Voter turnout was 30.22 %.
Rabhi will now run unopposed in the November general election although he still could face a challenge from write-in candidates.
