He served as mayor of Waukegan over five terms between 1957 and 1977 and again between 1985 and 1989.[2] During this time, he was often compared to Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley for a style of running the city that relied heavily on personal patronage.[2]
Early on in his career, Sabonjian received the ire of the Democratic party and the title of "maverick" for appointing Republicans to city jobs.[8]
In 1966, he played a controversial role in the city's unrest, during which he dismissed those involved as "junkheads and winos" and moreover blamed the NAACP. He also gave "shoot to kill" orders to police.[9][10]
He was initially affiliated with the Democratic Party. He ran a write-in campaign for United States Senate in 1966 against Paul Douglas and Charles Percy.[5] His campaign centered on calling for "ultimate victory" in Vietnam, and calling for civil rights protesters to stop complaining and start working.[11] He also called for sending unwed mothers to jail and placing their children in orphanages.[12] Of police tactics in response to riots, he called for "animals" to be treated like animals.[13] He assured voters that they need not spell his name correctly to have their vote count for him.[13]
As a supporter of businesses, Sabonjian attacked any suggestion that industry in Waukegan caused pollution, insisting, for example, that there was "no proof that PCBs were harmful."[14]
In 1969, he changed his affiliation to Republican in 1969 after the Democratic Party refused to endorse him for a fourth term.[1][5][15] He subsequently won with 75 percent of the vote.[5]
In 1970, he famously fired striking police officers. He also championed the expansion of Waukegan to the west, which included Lakehurst shopping center.[2][1] In total, the city expanded by some 20 square miles under Sabonjian's watch.[16]
In 1971, Sabonjian was subject to allegations of corruption, including collusion with gambling and prostitution interests.[5] He was cleared of these charges, but ordered by a grand jury to stop accepting a car free of charge from a local car dealership.[17]
In 1977, he lost the mayoral election to reformer Bill Morris. He left a photo of himself in the office with a note reading, "Good luck, you Irish S.O.B. Bob."[18]
During his political comeback in 1985, Sabonjian boasted of how his supporters "came to the polls like locusts to vote for Bob Sabonjian."[9] After he was returned to the mayoral office, Sabonjian made headlines by firing Waukegan's environmental inspector and finance director, who were hired under Morris's administration.[4] Sabonjian also hired his daughter as an administrative assistant.[4] He claimed during this term that Waukegan was "becoming the French Riviera of the Midwest."[19] Sabonjian was also part of a plan to construct a stadium for the Chicago Bears on Waukegan's west side.[20]
Haig Paravonian took over the office of mayor after Sabonjian retired in 1989.[16]