State Sen. Steve Bieda (D-Warren), a leading contender to succeed retiring Congressman Sandy Levin, is dropping out of the House race and is instead making a run for Macomb County clerk after the former clerk, Karen Spranger, was removed from office.
Bieda’s decision makes Levin’s son, Andy, the clear favorite to win the heavily Democratic 9th Congressional District, which includes portions of Macomb and Oakland counties. The stunning upheaval in the race came after a recent poll found Bieda trailing Levin by a 42-17 percent margin. In addition, Bieda’s fundraising had lagged far behind the effort by Levin, a Bloomfield Township Democrat.
“This is a very difficult decision, one I just made,” Bieda said earlier this afternoon. “In fact, I’m still calling my supporters to let them know.
“There is a real need, and a lot of hurt, going on in this county with what has happened at the clerk’s office. I think I can do a lot to address that.”
Spranger, after numerous controversies and allegations of misconduct, was removed from office on March 27 by a court ruling that said she falsified her residence — claiming to live in an apparently abandoned home in Warren — when she filed as a Republican to run for Macomb clerk in 2016. A special election in November will choose a successor to fill the remaining two years of her term.
A Democratic consultant said that Bieda’s “phone began lighting up” after Spranger was ousted and the Democrats were presented with a fresh opportunity to the regain the clerk’s seat that they had held for several decades. Bieda, who had envisioned for many years succeeding Congressman Levin, initially declined the urgings from prominent Democrats to change course and run for clerk.
Levin
In recent weeks, the state senator appeared to be lining up considerable support for his congressional run among current and former elected officials in Macomb County, which comprises a majority of the 9th District. But his candidacy, declared in early December, could not compete with the Levin name. The Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll that gave Andy Levin a lead of better than 2-1 also found that his father, veteran Rep. Sandy Levin, had a favorable rating among 73 percent of the 9th District Democrats, compared to just 8 percent unfavorable.
Levin, the nephew of former U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, outperformed Bieda among seniors and union members, according to the March survey, but the geographic split was most eye-opening. Levin had a 43-3 percent edge over Bieda in the Oakland County portion of the district while the race between the two frontrunners was knotted at 34 percent in Macomb, Bieda’s home turf.
At the same time, the term-limited state senator had raised just $128,000 as of March 31, far less than the amount needed to keep pace in a highly competitive congressional race. In comparison, Levin has raised $510,000. Another 9th District candidate, former Democratic state Rep. Ellen Cogen Lipton of Huntington Woods, now steps into the role of Levin’s main competitor.
Lipton
Lipton has raised a surprising $500,000 and she has the backing of two national groups – EMILY’s List, which assists female Democratic candidates for Congress, and 314 Action, which hopes to pump millions of dollars into campaign ads for “pro-science” candidates.
However, the Greenberg poll put Lipton’s support at just 8 percent and her former state House district represents a tiny piece of territory within the congressional district, which stretches from the suburbs south of Pontiac through Royal Oak and Warren and east to Lake St. Clair.
A fourth candidate in the race – now a three-person contest – former Bloomfield Hills school board member Martin Brook, has yet to make a dent. Bieda indicated that he has not decided whether to make an endorsement in the August primary, saying that he is “impressed by all three” of the Democratic competitors.
After serving nearly 14 years in the Legislature, in his upcoming campaign for county clerk, a post that entails running county elections, Bieda will emphasize his push for election reform legislation in the House and Senate.
“It was not an easy decision to end my campaign for Congress,” he said in a press release issued this afternoon. “But I cannot stand by as our clerk’s office, which was once a model of efficiency and innovation for the entire state of Michigan, has been torn apart by corruption and scandal over the last two years. Ethics reform, ending gerrymandering, and voting rights have always been top priorities for me as a state senator and representative. And I will carry on that fight every day as Macomb County clerk and register of deeds.”
Today’s turn of events may once again expose divisions among Macomb County Democrats, with a faction of the county party supporting Levin rather than the favorite son, Bieda, and that same group likely gearing up to oppose Bieda’s upcoming bid for clerk. The political drama plays out just one day before the filing deadline for 2018 election candidates.
Bieda is expected to enjoy the full-throated support of County Executive Mark Hackel while his toughest competition will likely come from a Hackel adversary, former county commissioner Fred Miller. A Mount Clemens Democrat, Miller lost to Spranger in the November 2016 election for clerk, marking perhaps the biggest political upset in recent county history.
Eight candidates have already filed for the special election, which appears on the regular Nov. 6 ballot, though the field may narrow given Bieda’s surprise decision. The filing deadline is Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Miller
Miller, who also served in the state House, is one of 21 applicants who filed for the job of temporary clerk, to keep the office running through the end of the year. The county’s 14 Circuit Court judges will make that appointment on May 7. Miller recently declared that, because he lost the November election to Spranger, who has since been declared an unqualified candidate, he should fill the vacancy as the temporary clerk.
That perch would give him a clear advantage in the upcoming election as he could run as the de facto incumbent.
One prominent Macomb Democrat said privately that Hackel, who has repeatedly tussled in the past with Miller and his political allies, aggressively recruited Bieda for clerk as a means of blocking Miller’s potential comeback.
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