Bernie Sanders

ANN ARBOR, MI — Bernie Sanders is endorsing Yousef Rabhi in the Ann Arbor mayoral race.

The U.S. senator from Vermont and former presidential candidate, announced his endorsement Friday, May 22, citing Rabhi’s record of progressive leadership.

“From taking on ICE to leading the fight for single-payer healthcare in Michigan, Yousef Rabhi has had the courage to stand up for working people and challenge powerful interests,” Sanders said in a statement.

“As mayor, he will fight to lower costs in Ann Arbor by building truly affordable housing, protecting public services and holding corporations accountable,” Sanders said. ”That is why I am proud to endorse Yousef Rabhi for mayor of Ann Arbor.”

Rabhi, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is running on a socialist platform, challenging Mayor Christopher Taylor in the Aug. 4 Democratic primary.

Rabhi and Taylor took different sides in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, with Rabhi endorsing Bernie Sanders and Taylor supporting Elizabeth Warren.

Rabhi said in a statement he’s honored to have Sanders’ endorsement and it reflects growing momentum behind his campaign focused on affordability, public investment and putting power back in the hands of residents.

“Bernie has spent his life fighting for working people and challenging a political system that too often serves wealthy interests instead of ordinary Americans. That is exactly the kind of leadership we need right now in Ann Arbor,” the Washtenaw County commissioner and former state representative said.

Rabhi’s campaign platform calls for making bigger investments in publicly owned and permanently affordable housing, stronger tenant protections, public investment in infrastructure and services, support for small businesses and efforts to lower utility costs through public power.

“Our campaign is about making Ann Arbor a city where working people can afford to stay,” Rabhi said. “Too many residents feel like they are being priced out of their own community. We are building a movement to change that.”

Rabhi also has been endorsed by anti-Trump group Ann Arbor Indivisible, the Huron Valley Area Labor Federation and the Ann Arbor Education Association. His campaign also reports picking up grassroots support across Ann Arbor among renters, homeowners, students, union members, small business owners and longtime residents concerned about rising costs and the direction of city government.

Taylor has a long list of endorsements from community leaders, business owners and residents listed on his website, including former Mayor John Hieftje, Blind Pig owner Joe Malcoun, Black Pearl owner Harry Cohen, Humane Society of Huron Valley President Tanya Hilgendorf, several of Rabhi’s county board colleagues, the entire City Council and different union groups.

Taylor criticized Rabhi in a social media post Thursday, May 21, for voting against over $300 million worth of tax incentives for the mixed-use Arbor South development that would include over 1,000 new housing units, including over 200 affordable apartments to be owned by the city’s Housing Commission. Taylor has supported the tax deal, which is the largest of its kind in Washtenaw County history and benefits a developer who has been one of his campaign donors over the years.

Rabhi said he couldn’t support using tax dollars to help private developers profit. Taylor said fortunately a majority of Rabhi’s colleagues voted to approve it and Ann Arbor will be better for it.

It’s easy to shout for bold action at a rally, but bold action when it counts means voting yes on that much new housing and affordable housing, Taylor said. Voting no perpetuates housing shortages and affordability crises, he said.

“We have a housing affordability crisis,” Taylor said. “Meeting this crisis requires more affordable housing and more housing overall. During my tenure as mayor, Ann Arbor is on track to double its affordable housing, with even more on the way.”

The two mayoral candidates are expected to continue debating city issues at two forums in June.