I am so petty, I am about to drop atleast $200 on his campaign...Maybe even more
@darth frosty - is this dude a coon?? He solid???
Inkster Mayor Cites Tlaib’s Lack of Support for Kamala Harris in Congressional Challenge
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U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Inkster Mayor Byron Nolen.
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March 12, 2026
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Sam Robinson
Sam Robinson is a journalist covering regional politics and popular culture. In 2024, Robinson founded Detroit one million, a local news website tailored toward young people. He has reported for MLive, Rolling Stone, Axios and the Detroit Free Press.
Two-time Inkster Mayor Byron Nolen announced this week he’s running for Michigan’s 12th Congressional District currently represented by U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
Nolen, a Democrat, told Michigan Chronicle Tuesday he’s running because of Tlaib’s lack of support for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
“She didn’t represent our best interests,” Nolen said. “I can’t stand when someone lets you down to that magnitude… I think that was the reason (Harris) lost in Michigan, I mean, look at the numbers for Jill Stein and how many people sat home.”
In Dearborn, the 12th District’s largest city, Trump received 43% to Kamala Harris’s 36%. Jill Stein took 15% of the vote. But Tlaib won 62% of the vote in Dearborn, far outpacing Harris.
In an interview Wednesday, Nolen said the stakes were too high for Tlaib not to encourage voters to turn out for Harris. President Donald Trump is creating chaos for Michigan families, he said.
“You decided not to support her because of Biden’s support of Israel, but Trump’s got the same policies,” Nolen said.
The Inkster mayor said he has a positive relationship with Tlaib. He says he was satisfied with Tlaib’s reasons for helping organize voters to vote “uncommitted” in Michigan’s February presidential primary. Nolen said Tlaib explained her advocacy to him and Kevin Tolbert, the chair of the 12th District Democratic Party.
“But after Biden dropped out, she didn’t stand up and say, ‘OK, we need to readjust.’ That was a failure of leadership,” Nolen said.
While Harris never endorsed Harris, she did criticize President Donald Trump throughout the election cycle, calling Trump a “proud Islamophobe and serial liar who doesn’t stand for peace.”
“The reality is that the Biden admin’s unconditional support for genocide is what got us here,” Tlaib said on social media in the days before the November election. “This should be a wake-up call for those who continue to support genocide. This election didn’t have to be close.”
The 12th District stretches from Southfield to Detroit’s westside, Deaborn, Dearborn Heights, Livonia, Westland, Garden City among other communities.
Since Tlaib took office in 2019 after previously serving in the Michigan Legislature, she has used her platform in Congress to oppose sending money for war to Israel and other foreign countries. It’s a position that is becoming increasing popular among Democratic and some Republican voters.
Michigan has the highest percentage of Arab Americans in the country, and the highest percentage of Muslim Americans among swing states. Michigan’s 12th District covers Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, where thousands of Arab and Muslim Michiganders call home.
Nolen said he would not seek the financial support of AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby which become political lightning rod for criticism among progressive Democrats and some, usually younger, conservative Republicans.
“I don’t think they’re going to spend on me — I’d return it because it’s become so toxic,” Nolen said, adding that he is anti-war. “It’s a voting issue for many in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights.”
Nolen was reelected as the Mayor of Inkster in 2023 after serving from 2015-2019. An attorney and small business owner, Nolen officially
launched his candidacy on Wednesday, saying his campaign is focused on protecting civil rights and constitutional freedoms.
“Nolen has spent his career working across the exact issues facing the 12th District – as a mayor who
steered a city out of financial crisis, as an employment attorney who fought for workers, and as a small business owner who understands what families are up against every day, Nolen makes sense for the 12th District,” a spokesperson for his campaign said in a statement.
Two other candidates who have filed to run are Allen Downer and Shanelle Jackson.
Jackson earned 4,927 (5%) votes when she ran in 2022. That election featured Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey, who received 21,636 (22%) votes in her runner-up defeat.
Former Detroit City Council president Brenda Jones took 34% of the vote in the August, 2020 primary after receiving 30% of the vote in 2018. Jones has been Tlaib’s most competitive opponent.
A statement on Downer’s campaign website says he was inspired to run because of his disdain for Tlaib’s performance, which Downer says “has failed to deliver for the people of Michigan’s 12th District.”
“She has become more focused on amplifying conflict and alienating allies than on meeting the everyday needs of Michiganders,” Downer said. “From her failure to address broader issues like economic equality and healthcare to prioritizing divisive rhetoric instead of real, practical solutions, she has left many feeling ignored and left out.”
Tlaib’s office last month pointed to the
$15 million in Community Project Funding heading to the district as part of 2026 appropriations bills. That funding will go toward infrastructure upgrades, lead service line replacement, home repair, workforce development, affordable housing, and more.
Included in the Community Project Funding earmarks is $3.1 million for Southfield home repair; $2 million for Redford’s aging water systems and lead service lines; $1 million to restore Cooley High School through renovations, partial demolition, and new construction to create space for both indoor and outdoor sports fields; and $500,000 for the city of Inkster’s Harvest River Square Project that will be used to construct an outdoor community space and market pavilion.
Tlaib said on
social media Thursday she submitted nominating petitions for her reelection bid. As the lone Palestinian in Congress, she’s raised millions of dollars from donors across the country sympathetic to Palestine during her previous campaigns.