Within minutes after longtime Macomb County Clerk Carmella Sabaugh announced on Friday afternoon that she was withdrawing her re-election candidacy and instead retiring, videos began popping up on Facebook with clerk candidate Fred Miller touting his bid as the Sabaugh successor.
Sabaugh’s decision, made public as the withdrawal deadline approached, was supposed to be a surprise. When rumors swirled last week that Sabaugh, a 77-year-old Democrat, was vacating her seat, she called the speculation “wishful thinking.”
But it now appears that Miller, a county commissioner and fellow Democrat, had the inside track several days before Sabaugh’s announcement.
The initial Facebook post of Miller’s video was dated April 15 (screen capture above) , a week prior to the longtime clerk’s public statement. Yet, in the video, Miller says that Sabaugh “announced she will not be seeking re-election.” Before launching into his sales pitch as a clerk candidate, he added, “I wish her well in this next chapter of her life.”
It appears that Miller was tipped off by Sabaugh and urged to file for her seat. This way, no one else of significance would put their name on the ballot and Miller would win easily. After all, even Sabaugh’s staff was apparently kept in the dark about their boss’ plan.
It almost worked. But about a half-hour before the filing deadline last Tuesday, Warren City Clerk Paul Wojno stuck with his hunch and filed for county clerk. Wojno won a third term in November so he does not have to surrender his city clerk post. But the telltale sign may have been that Miller withdrew his re-election bid for county commissioner when he filed for county clerk.
That made it look like he was all-in for a race against Sabaugh, who is normally a Miller ally.
Sabaugh is certainly not the first longtime official to try to control who emerged as her successor. But she may be one of the few that tried to pull it off in a secretive manner and had it botched so badly. It appears that Miller, as a dry run, may have posted his video to a separate Facebook account on April 15. But when he first started sharing it on Facebook a week later, a screenshot revealed the true picture.
