Hamtramck mayor files 'emergency appeal' in election recount decision

Also tonight, Hamtramck is set to have a new mayor after a judge rules on a controversial election case stemming from the 2025 race. But lawyers for current mayor Adam El Harbi say this is far from over. Fox News' Dave Kinchin is live outside Hamtramck City Hall with the breakdown. And Dave, we have been following every twist and turn of this story. Yeah, I was covering this whole election when it happened one year ago. And here we are once again, the Current mayor with their attorney filing an emergency petition, an emergency appeal after a judge in Wayne County really turned the tables on all of this. Take a look at your screen. We'll walk through this together. That's current mayor Adam El Harbi on the left side of your screen. On the right is Muhith Mahmood, a former Hamtramck City Council member who is now poised to replace El Harbi. El Harbi was initially certified as the winner of the 2025 election one year ago, but But Mahmoud challenged the exclusion of 37 uncounted absentee ballots found in the city clerk's office. After a court order, those ballots were tallied, flipping the lead to Mahmoud. Now, the battle did not stop at the vote count. A major focus of the lawsuit was whether Mahmoud... met Hamtramck's residency requirements, critics allege he lived in Troy with his family, triggering months of legal scrutiny. The judge dismissed those claims, ruling that he does meet residency rules, meaning he lives in Hamtramck. That's the word from the court. We spoke with Mayor El Harbi's legal team about their next steps. We are filing a request for a stay of her decision. It will be filed within the next 15 minutes. We're also filing an emergency appeal to the Michigan Court of Appeals and saying that there's absolutely no way, it's against the weight of the evidence that's been submitted under oath testimony. As well as we're asking our dear friend, the Attorney General Dana Nessel, please. Please, Attorney General, look at what has been submitted to you after the investigation has been completed. Like everybody in Hamtramck, we're just throwing up our hands and really waiting for the whole controversy that's gone on now for almost a year to be over. The city needs stability. We need to know who's in charge and to have confidence in that system and in that person. Well, tonight we're also hearing from Mahmood's attorney, Mark Brewer, who released this statement. It says, quote, this is a complete victory for the voters of Hamtramck, Democracy, and Muhith Mahmood as the bogus residency case against him is dismissed and the Wayne County Board of Canvassers is ordered to certify him as mayor of Hamtramck. This case reaffirms that Michigan voters can trust that their votes will be counted and their verdict at the ballot box will be carried out. Now, tonight on The Edge, We take a deeper look at the legal implications of all of this on this city. The instability or the unclear questions of who the mayor is, how that affects city contracts and city business. We talk about that with the former mayor you heard from just moments ago. That'll be tonight on The Edge. We're live in Hamtramck. Dave Kinchin, Fox 2 News. And Dave, much like you, I've been at these meetings hearing public comment. People are frustrated. They've been frustrated for a year. They're really kind of the losers in all of this mess. Yeah, you know, this is a city that fired their city manager. This is a city that at one point put their city clerk on leave. There have been FBI investigations. Members of the council have sued each other. A former mayor sued the council. It's been a lot here, and I think residents say, you know what, let's try to get to some sense of calm and consistency. And like you said, it's not over yet. All right, Dave, we'll see you at 11.