Judge hears testimony over Muhith Mahmood's residency in Hamtramck mayoral race

A Wayne County judge held a five-hour hearing on Thursday regarding the residency of former City Councilman Muhith Mamood, who recently took the lead for Hamtramck mayor after 37 absentee ballots were counted nearly a year after the 2025 election.

Mahmood's opponent, sitting mayor Adam Alharbi, is challenging that he actually lives in the city.

"I am a Hamtramck resident. You can ask all these neighbors. They're not going to come out and lie and wait here for five or six hours to testify," said Mahmood outside of court Thursday.

While Alharbi denied Mahmood's claims, telling CBS Detroit, "most witnesses came and said that he does not live in the city of Hamtramck and all investigators who came to witness today have said that my opponent does not live in the city of Hamtramck, and most importantly the whole city of Hamtramck knows that he lives in Troy."

Mahmood's residency has been challenged for years. City officials even tried to kick him off the ballot for mayor in 2024 after launching their own investigation and then referring the matter to the Michigan State Police. We heard testimony from state police that revealed his cell phone was mostly located in Troy.

"All the law enforcement individuals, the neutral individuals, they basically said this Mr. Mahmoud does not reside in the city of Hamtramck. We didn't make this up. This was the investigators. Even state police that did the investigation on the tower showed that he was in Troy most of the time in 2024," said Alharbi's attorney Nabih Ayad.

Mamood's attorney, Mark Brewer, says there's no legitimate evidence that he lived in another city for more than half the year.

"We made our case. I don't think the other side proved at all that Mr. Mahmoud doesn't live in Hamtramck; that was their job today. They put on nine witnesses; the judge let them put in everything that they wanted, and still at the end of the day they did not have enough evidence he lives in Hamtramck," said Brewer.

As both sides continue to go back and forth, and it's still uncertain who will be the mayor of Hamtramck after an election over a year ago, a ruling on this question is expected sometime Friday in a written opinion by the Wayne County judge. 

City officials say Alharbi will remain mayor during the proceedings.