Erin Byrnes
Bilal Hammoud
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – Two candidates have filed to run for the new 15th District Michigan House seat: Dearborn City Councilmember Erin Byrnes and Bilal Hammoud, public engagement associate with the Michigan Department of State.
Byrnes is a Dearborn resident, while Hammoud, who is not related to Dearborn Mayor Abdallah Hammoud, lives in Dearborn Heights.
The newly redrawn 15th District will represent Dearborn Heights and west Dearborn, and will have an August primary.
It should not be confused with the special election to fill the remainder of Mayor Abdallah Hammoud’s current 15th District state representative seat, which has a March 1 primary and will be filled by the results of the May 3 general election.
Those running for the seat, which they would hold through the end of 2022, include Democrats Alabas Farhat and Jeffrey Pepper, and Republican Ginger Shearer (formerly known as Virginia Polk).
Byrnes said in a social media post that she is excited to apply what she has learned on the local level to advocate for her communities in Lansing.
“My team and I are ready to get to work, addressing the issues that matter most,” she said. “I will continue to be a neighbor you can trust and a leader you can count on.”
Hammoud said in a social media post that from his beginnings as a grassroot advocate to his work with the Executive Office of the Secretary of State, he has spent his entire career dedicated to public service.
“I am dedicated to breaking bureaucratic silos and working to bridge gaps between government and the people it serves,” he said. “This is an opportunity to work cohesively across all levels of government to bring resources back home.”