A Michigan city lawmaker who was once a left-wing symbol for criminal justice reform faces two felony cases alleging domestic violence and election fraud.
Flint City Councilman Leon el Alamin is set for a September evidence hearing over claims that he lived outside the ward he represents during the 2024 elections and an October trial for allegedly beating an ex-girlfriend he lived with, according to Genesee County court records and local media reports. El Alamin, an ex-drug dealer whose prior record was expunged, endorsed Democratic Michigan primary winner Abdul el Sayed’s Senate run last year before el Sayed’s campaign called his domestic violence and assault case “deeply” disturbing.
El Alamin’s Instagram account still displays the el Sayed endorsements in April and July 2025 posts, including one featuring what appears to be a now-deleted webpage from el Sayed’s campaign site. The advocacy group Muslims for American Progress also featured el Sayed and el Alamin together in a 2017 “Impact Report of Muslim Contributions to Michigan.”
El Sayed’s campaign and el Alamin’s attorney did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment. “Domestic violence is directly against Abdul’s values,” an el Sayed spokesperson previously told the Daily Caller. “Our campaign will continue to focus on uprooting it — and to standing with survivors. We will never partner with anyone found to have committed domestic violence.”
El Alamin called the assault case “false and deeply disheartening” in July 2025, and his defense attorney, Rolland Sizemore, told Flint Beat this month he does not think prosecutors will “be able to prove” he lived outside his ward.
While out on bail, el Alamin is running for a different city council ward in November due to recent redistricting — but he will lose his office if convicted of a felony.
El Alamin calls himself a “survivor of mass-incarceration” after Democrat-backed legislation signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) in 2020 allowed the state to expunge his drug and weapons convictions. The politician and nonprofit leader took a photo one-on-one with the governor at an event, which he posted online in 2024 alongside photos with other elected Democrats.
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Whitmer remained silent on el Alamin’s mounting controversies despite multiple media outlets questioning her office, and her administration said last September it would not investigate the residency fraud claims against him, leaving it to local officials, MLive reported. Whitmer’s office did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
“These bipartisan bills are a game changer for people who are seeking opportunities for employment, housing, and more, and they will help ensure a clean slate for hundreds of thousands of Michiganders,” she said about her 2020 legislation.