If history repeats itself, the 11th District seat on the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners could be taken over by another University of Michigan student.

Yousef Rabhi, a 21-year-old Ann Arborite, has announced his intentions to run for the position currently held by Jeff Irwin. Irwin was 22 when he first was elected to the county board as a U-M student 10 years ago.

After a decade of service to the county, Irwin is vacating his seat to run for state representative, leaving Rabhi with a chance to run for an open spot on the board.

Rabhi has formally formed a campaign committee called Citizens for Yousef Rabhi and is circulating nominating petitions to secure a position on the ballot. With the 11th District encompassing such a large part of the university community, he says he'll be relying on the student vote to win.

"Students can play a huge role. They haven't traditionally in the past, but my goal is to activate the student vote," he said. "I think at the end of the day the students are going to be a good portion of the vote, but I'm going to have to get a large portion of people from the community to vote as well."

The primary election is Aug. 3, followed by the general election Nov. 2.

All 11 seats on the county board are up for reelection this year. The filing deadline is May 11.

According to County Clerk Larry Kestenbaum, no one has formally filed for any seats yet. A list of candidates who file will be posted on the county's Web site.

Other candidates rumored to be considering a run for the 11th District seat include Michael Fried, Alice Ralph and LuAnne Bullington, who is the only non-incumbent county commissioner candidate who shows any campaign finance activity since 2009. Bullington filed a statement of organization for a campaign committee on Sept. 23, county records show.

Rabhi, a Democrat, is advocating several environmental goals. He says his experiences with parks maintenance and ecological restoration put him in a position to fight for the continued preservation and expansion of the county’s park system. He also is an advocate of alternative energy and mass transit.

"Transportation is a very important issue on the county level," he said. "Expanding the bus service into and around Ann Arbor, I think that's essential, not only from an environmentalist perspective, but also an economic perspective. Also, expanding on the idea of regionalism and linking up with Detroit and the other members of SEMCOG - that kind of regionalist approach to things, I think that's essential."

Rabhi has lived in Ann Arbor most of his life and is a graduate of Huron High School. He is a senior in U-M's Program in the Environment within the School of Literature, Science and the Arts specializing in urban and regional planning.

Rabhi serves as a member of the board of Michigan Peaceworks and is a former board member of the Inter-Cooperative Council. He also served for two terms on the board of the Ann Arbor Democratic Party.

He is a member of the Buhr Park Children's Wet Meadow Project and other environmental groups in and around Ann Arbor. As a student, he helped form Anti-War Action and is a current member of Students Organized for Labor and Economic Equality and the Progressive Alliance.

Rabhi says he will fight for the preservation of community services, yet acknowledges a reduction in funding must be dealt with realistically. He considers himself an advocate of consolidating services across governmental levels to reduce overlap and budgetary waste.

For more information on Rabhi's campaign, reach him at citizensforyousef@gmail.com.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.