Gene Hunt with his family.

DEARBORN — Attorney Gene Hunt first conceded before discovering that he was the winner of the 19th District Court judge race. 

When all of Dearborn’s 48 precincts had reported their numbers, City Council President Susan Dabaja appeared to have been the winner, with more than 1,100 votes over Hunt.

But in a surprising twist, it turned out that the absentee votes had still not been tallied. When they were, Hunt was victorious, with 17,403 votes (50.4 percent) to Dabaja’s 16,982 votes (49.1 percent).

At the Park Place Banquet Hall in Dearborn, many of Hunt’s supporters had already called it a night and gone home.

But Hunt stayed behind when he heard word that not all the votes had been tallied. When the official results came in, Hunt announced the shocking twist to the few supporters who remained at the banquet. 

He told The AANews that it was a roller coaster of a night.

“From thinking that I lost to elation, I’ve never felt it before in my life,” Hunt said. “I can’t explain it. I wanted to keep a positive campaign. I wanted to talk about myself, and I did that. I am very humbled by all the support that I had and all the great people that helped me.”

The race was perhaps one of the most heated in the city’s history. Both Hunt and Dabaja faced a slew of negative attacks on the campaign trail.

But on Election Day, Hunt’s volunteers said there were barely any problems at the polls.

“Everything went pretty much as it should have,” said Patrick Dambrosio, a campaign volunteer at Haigh and Long Elementary Schools. “I think voter turnout is very important and it shows you today. Everybody came out and voted and that’s what it’s all about. Whether you win or lose, people have to come out and vote for how they feel.”

Hunt’s wife, Carol, told The AANews that many of Hunt’s supporters returned to the hall once they had discovered that he won.

“I’m just overjoyed and shocked,” she said. “We worked so hard and ran a clean campaign. This whole race has been a roller coaster, even up to the final moments.”

Hunt’s daughter, Lindsey LaFond, told The AANews that Hunt’s character had prevailed during his concession speech.

“In my dad’s original concession speech, when he had thought he had lost, he said, ‘I’m still Gene Hunt,'” LaFond said. “That rings so true, because at the end of the day, whatever campaign he ran, he was still proud to walk away as himself.”

Meanwhile, the Dabaja campaign also experienced a night filled with twists and turns. At her campaign after-party at LaPita, excitement had rushed over hundreds of her supporters who discovered that she had the highest vote counts at the precincts.

However, Dabaja and her team warned the crowd that the absentee votes weren’t tallied and that they wouldn’t declare a victory until they had the final results, despite social media pages having already announced that she was the winner.

After the official results came in, a somber mood dominated the gathering.

“I couldn’t have chosen a better crowd to be here with tonight,” Dabaja told her supporters. “I’m okay with the results. I’ll tell you why– because I know we did everything we could possibly do. I’m comforted in knowing that I gave everything that I could. We ran a strong, clean respectful campaign and hopefully we move on from this, being united.”

Dabaja will continue her duties as City Council president, as her term doesn’t end until December 2017.

Hunt, a long time Dearborn attorney, will join Judge Sam Salamey and Judge Mark Somers at the 19th District Court. He will be filling the seat of Judge William C. Hultgren, whose term ends at the end of the year.