Hamtramck, Mich., residents have elected a Muslim majority to the city’s six-member City Council, symbolizing the demographic changes that have transformed the city once known for being a Polish Catholic enclave.
With six candidates running for three seats, the top three vote-getters were Muslim, while the bottom three were non-Muslim. Two of the Muslim candidates, Anam Miah and Abu Musa, are incumbent city councilmen, while newcomer Saad Almasmari, the top vote-getter, also was elected. The seat of another Muslim incumbent councilman, Mohammed Hassan, was not up for reelection, and incumbent City Councilman Robert Zwolak came in fifth place.
Some believe the city is the first in the U.S. with a Muslim majority on its City Council. Four of the six council members will be Muslim: three of them of Bangladeshi descent and one Yemeni.
