Rabhi Ousts Taylor, Mayor Loses 49 of 52 Voting Precincts and Concedes

by P.D. Lesko

Evidently, Ann Arbor is not for sale. County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi’s rallying cry resonated with voters across Ann Arbor who have sent long-time Mayor Chris Taylor a clear message. His tenure in office is over. Since there are no Republican mayoral candidates on the ballot and no Independent candidate has stepped forward, Rabhi will appear unopposed on the Nov. 2026 General Election ballot. Taylor, first elected in 2008 in a race that ousted former Ward 3 Council member Stephen Kunselman, was then elected Mayor in 2014. Mailers from dark money PAC Michigan Deserves Better that targeted Rabhi’s voting record in the State House and on the Board of County Commissioners, as well as less bombastic mailers sent out on Taylor’s behalf by the Association of Realtors, couldn’t buy the Mayor another four-year term in office. In a race that turned bitter, Rabhi out-fundraised Taylor and captured the majority of the votes cast in 49 of the City’s 52 voting precincts.

Election results from the Washtenaw County Clerk, which have not yet been certified, show that Rabhi garnered more early votes than Taylor, more absentee votes than Taylor and more in-person votes at the polls to capture 57.44 percent of the votes cast.

At 30.68 percent, Washtenaw County voter turnout was a tick higher than in the 2022 gubernatorial election year, when turnout was 27.75 percent.

Taylor’s allies and proxies took to social media prior to the primary election to no avail.

Former Ward 2 Council member Kirk Westphal posted and promoted his opinion in an essay titled, “In Housing Policy, Boring Wins.” He writes, “Ann Arbor’s longtime anti-growth movement has found new messengers, forging a marriage of convenience with candidates who identify as democratic socialists. It’s an uncomfortable coalition…their broader coalition, meanwhile, includes campus landlords, anti-tax Republicans, and residents of some of Ann Arbor’s wealthiest neighborhoods.”

Two of the three precincts Taylor won—2-16/2-19—are both among Ann Arbor’s wealthiest neighborhoods. Precinct 2-16 borders the Huron River, the U-M Arboretum and Gallup Park, while 2-19 on the other side of the river, borders Gallup Park, the Huron and Huron Hills Golf Course.

Westphal also writes that, “The challengers were given an opportunity to explain its housing strategy through a candidate questionnaire from More Neighbors A2, a local nonprofit dedicated to housing affordability and equity. Collectively, they declined to answer.” Neighbors for More Neighbors A2 is not a “local nonprofit” dedicated to any mission.

The A2Indy reported in June when the candidate questionnaire went out that the entity was not registered with the State of Michigan as any kind of business or nonprofit or with the IRS Charitable Division as any kind of 501(c) 3 or 4. Neighbors for More Neighbors A2 was formed by a small group of politically connected Ann Arbor residents to help sell the controversial Community Land Use Plan (CULP). In March 2026, led by Taylor, City Council unanimously adopted the CULP which did away with single-family zoning and upzoned every neighborhood in Ann Arbor, opening some residential neighborhoods to multi-story apartment buildings (but not Taylor’s neighborhood). Rabhi campaigned against doing away with single-family zoning and what he asserted was poor citizen engagement leading up to the City Council’s adoption of the CULP.

Taylor political appointee and AADL Board member Scott Trudeau posted a June 2026 essay on his own webpage titled, “All Bullhorn, No Gavel: Why Ann Arbor Needs Taylor, Not Rabhi.” In that piece, like Westphal, Trudeau paints Rabhi as a darling of the rich and entitled, “My worry is that a Mayor Rabhi would likely stall the slow-but-real progress [on creating affordable housing] we’re finally seeing, and in practice deliver the one thing his loudest supporters in million-dollar homes actually want: protection of the status quo.”

In 2014, Trudeau and his wife purchased their single-family home for $365,000, according to public records. The 1,168 square foot home is now valued at $645,000. Public records show Kirk Westphal and his wife own two homes, collectively worth over $900,000.

On July 14, 2026, multi-millionaire Taylor supporter Adam Goodman posted “Ideology vs Progress – Why I’m voting for Taylor, not Rabhi” on the blog Damn Arbor overseen by Ypsilanti resident Ben Connor Berrie. Goodman sits on the Board of the sketchy Neighbors for More Neighbors A2, as well as Kirk Westphal’s small nonprofit called Neighborhood Institute, a 501(c)3 that solicits donations and reports less than $50,000 in revenue, but is not registered with the AG’s Charitable Division. Goodman writes, “In the last few years, County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi has shown a distinct pattern of reacting with anger and accusation when proposals do not meet his ideological purity tests, regardless of real world consequences. This pattern should give voters pause when considering how he would approach the job of Mayor of Ann Arbor.”

At 11:30 p.m. County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi declared victory in the mayoral contest, and Mayor Chris Taylor conceded.