Yousef Rabhi has declared victory in the race for mayor of Ann Arbor in Tuesday's General Election.
Yousef, a former Michigan state representative and current Washtenaw County Commissioner, defeated incumbent Ann Arbor mayor Christopher Taylor in the August primary election. He was widely expected to win the Democratic majority in Tuesday’s general election in which he took 97 percent of the vote after facing a late write-in challenge from candidate Elizabeth Kurtz.
Rabhi says his focus moving forward is bringing people together following a contentious time in Ann Arbor politics.
"First day on the job is about unity.First day of the job is about bringing our council together and bringing the staff together and making sure that we can create a unified effort to move our city forward. There's been a lot of division in Ann Arbor, a lot of people on different sides of issues,but I think that's been the symptom of a larger political problem in this country and I'm hoping that one of the first things I want to do is roll up my sleeves and bring people together.”
Kurtz, a self described journalist running on a platform of helping unhoused people achieve stability, had less than 3 percent of the vote as of this writing.
This story is part of a series previewing major local races in the 2026 midterm elections. Click here for more of WEMU's local election coverage.
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