Democrats fret over GOP hopeful's edge for Southfield clerk after 2020 election suit
Southfield — A Republican is the only city clerk candidate on the ballot in Democratic-dominated Southfield, a prospect that worries Democrats and has GOP leaders arguing that the Democrats are in disarray.
Republican Gavriel "Gabi" Grossbard is running for the Southfield clerk's seat after losing his 2023 bid to current city Clerk Janet Jackson, a Democrat who was disqualified from running for reelection. Democrats are hoping either City Councilwoman Coretta Houge or city clerk's office worker Wynett Guy can prevail as write-in candidates, but political experts said write-in campaigns are often uphill battles.
The clerk oversees local elections and public records in the predominantly Black city of more than 75,000 residents. This would include overseeing the local results of the 2026 midterm election, when Republicans are seeking to win an open U.S. Senate seat as well as take back the governor's office and state Senate.
The Michigan Democratic Party has highlighted this race in part due to a November 2020 federal lawsuit that Grossbard filed with three other voters that sought to decertify the presidential ballot counts in the Democratic strongholds of Wayne, Washtenaw and Ingham counties. Grossbard and his co-plaintiffs accused election officials of clerical errors, fraud and counting illegal votes.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2025/10/26/democrats-fret-gop-hopeful-grossbard-edge-southfield-clerk-2020-election-lawsuit/86821166007/