A Michigan Democrat city council member who endorsed Abdul El-Sayed for Senate has pleaded guilty to election fraud and now faces probation.
Flint City Councilman Leon El-Alamin has pleaded guilty to election fraud charges and pleaded no contest to domestic violence charges, MLive reported.
El-Alamin reportedly lied about where he lived to the city.
El-Alamin filled the seat of Eric Mays, a longtime Flint activist who died in office in 2024. However, he was ousted from the seat during the Nov. 3 election, MLive reported.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ Outgoing Flint City Councilman Leon El-Alamin walked into court and pled guilty to election fraud, and no contest to domestic violence and assault, according to a local news report. It was supposed to be the first day of his assault trial, after months of delays. El-Alamin isn't a first-time offender finding trouble in office. He's an ex-felon who went to prison under his birth name, Leon Wilson, and changed his name while he was inside. Michigan's "๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐" ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฅ๐๐ฐ wiped his record clean before he ever filed for office. He won a First Ward seat in a 2024 special election, then endorsed progressive favorite and now Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed. The fraud charge stems from that very election: prosecutors say he swore he lived in the First Ward, when he was actually residing outside it. The assault case comes from a July 2025 incident, when he's accused of ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง at a house he owns in Mount Morris Township โ a felony charge he spent the following year fighting, right up until today's plea. No contest doesn't mean admission, but it carries the same legal weight as a conviction. Flint's council now has to figure out what to do with a sitting member who lied to get elected and is pleading out of a domestic violence case on the same afternoon. ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ญ. ๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ง'๐ญ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ. Source: @EricLDaugh https://t.co/Bzf71MPQJA
โ M.A. Rothman (@MichaelARothman) November 14, 2026
BREAKING UPDATE: Leon Abdullah El-Alamin, a Democrat-endorsed Flint, Michigan, councilman, just pleaded GUILTY to election fraud and NO CONTEST to felony assault charges. He previously served 7 years in prison on weapons & drug charges. How TF was this person allowed into public office???
โ Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 13, 2026
This is not even realโฆ a sitting city councilman in Flint, Michigan stands in front of a judge and pleads guilty to a felony for lying on the sworn affidavit he used to get on the ballot, and the deal on the table is two years of probation and no more jail time if he behaves. Let me explain what actually happened here. Leon El-Alamin signed and notarized an affidavit on April 12, 2024 swearing he lived on East Mott Avenue in Flint's 1st Ward so he could run in a special election for that seat. The woman renting that house testified in September that in nearly four years he never lived there, never spent a night there, and the only things he kept there were a lawnmower and appliances. She pays him rent in cash. He was her landlord, not her housemateโฆ and he sat in that council seat representing people he did not live among, voting on their money, for more than two years. And on the same Thursday he pled guilty on the election case, he also pled no contest to assault with intent to do great bodily harm and domestic violence, after prosecutors said he dragged a woman by her hair, punched her in the head and choked her in July 2025. That trial got pushed off again and again all year. Sentencing is January 4. A GPS tether until then, probation after. Now keep in mind his own lawyer tried to push the residency hearing past the November election, arguing that prosecuting a candidate that close to an election could create an appearance of political influence. Think about that for a second. The man swore to a lie to get on a ballot and the defense was that holding him accountable before voters went to the polls would look political. The voters threw him out on November 3 anyway, and good for them, but the voters should not have to be the only safeguard in this country. Here is the reality. For years I have been told election fraud is a myth, that nobody lies on the paperwork, that the system checks itself and every rule gets followed. This was one man, one affidavit, one address, and a tenant who was willing to raise her hand and tell the truth, and it still took two years and a plea deal to get a guilty plea on the record. How many affidavits, registrations and addresses never get a tenant who talks? How many never get looked at at all? Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said it mattered that he admitted to the false affidavit so โwe maintain election integrity in this community, this state, and this country.โ I agree with him. So act like it. Felony false swearing to get on a ballot should cost more than a tether and a calendar of probation check ins, and every county clerk in Michigan should be pulling the residency affidavits for every candidate on their ballots right now and checking them against where those people actually live. Michigan, this one is on you. Do not let this be the last one anybody looks at. Pray, Stand, Speak, ACT. Love, What all of you good people are thinking
โ Joe Oltmann (@Joeoltmann) November 13, 2026
๐จ HOLY CRAP! Flint Councilman Leon El-Alamin just pleaded GUILTY to election fraud and NO CONTEST to felony assault! He admitted lying about his residency to run for office. Prosecutors also accused him of punching and CHOKING a woman. Voters rejected him on November 3. ABSOLUTELY DISGRACEFUL! https://t.co/FBGqwcY0aX
โ Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) November 13, 2026
You will never guess who endorsed Abdul El-Sayed for Michigan Senateโฆ Convicted criminal and Flint City Councilor Leon Abdullah El-Alamin. - served 7 years in prison on weapons & drug charges - facing a felony charge for allegedly assaulting a woman by choking her, hitting her in the face, and pulling out her hair - facing election fraud charges for allegedly falsely claiming he lived in Flint to file to run for city council - Allegedly evicted his tenant by intimidating them with an AK-style firearm Michigan, you have been warned!
โ Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 30, 2026