Detroit Free Press endorses Mayor Dave Bing, un-endorses council candidate Charles Pugh

Charles Pugh

On Sunday, the Detroit Free Press rounded out its election endorsements with something predictable, but a couple surprises too.

The Motor City’s major daily newspaper’s endorsement of incumbent Mayor Dave Bing’s bid for a full, four-year term was strongly argued even if it was expected.

While suggesting that suburbanite Bing’s commitment to the city as a businessman makes Bing the perfect regional bridge, the endorsement mostly lauds Bing for his “forthright approach” and (the endorsement’s best line) the “typhoon of fresh air in the stale wind of city politics” he represents.

The endorsement even offered mayoral challenger Tom Barrow a bone or two – lauding his sensitivity to the city’s most vulnerable residents.

The major surprise from the Free Press, however, came in the form of its un-endorsement of city council candidate and ex-local TV journalist, Charles Pugh.

The un-endorsement focuses on the candidate’s “financial troubles” – i.e. in the worst timing imaginable, Pugh last week acknowledged that his downtown home is being foreclosed upon – as well as his “lack of candor” to the newspaper’s editorial board back in July when he apparently misrepresented his financial stability. From the un-endorsement:

Pugh remains a bright and engaging Detroiter, someone whose reporting experience has provided him with real insight into Detroit’s problems. But Detroit will be better off if he finds a way to contribute outside of elected office, at least until his own financial life has been stabilized. He does not deserve election to City Council on Nov. 3.

Surprise number two from the Free Press came in the form of editorial writer Jeff Gerritt’s sidebar, personal endorsement of council candidate Raphael Johnson – the 34-year-old convicted murderer turned author/businessman/community leader. From Gerritt’s persuasively written editorial:

I have seen Johnson inspire hundreds of young men and women with his message of self-help, self-respect and redemption. Detroit needs his singular voice on City Council.