Democrats fret over GOP hopeful’s edge for Southfield clerk after 2020 election suit

By Max Bryan, MediaNews Group

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 Council member Coretta Hogue 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 re