Former Fox 2 anchorman Charles Pugh could announce a Detroit City Council run next week. (Charles Pugh/MySpace)

Former Fox 2 anchorman Charles Pugh could announce a Detroit City Council run next week. (Charles Pugh/MySpace)

Is Detroit ready to elect an openly gay candidate to high office?

That question is being prompted by rumors that former Fox 2 anchorman Charles Pugh may announce a run for city council next week. Pugh, 37, has not announced a run, but has dropped hints that he’s going to make a career change: Pugh’s MySpace page said he’s releasing a book in this month called “How to Really Change Detroit”; he’s planning to make a “big announcement” in a Detroit neighborhood; and plans to host an April 17 gala and appear on WJLB radio in May.

If Pugh runs, his sexuality will attract a great deal of attention because he’ll be the first openly gay candidate in Detroit to run for city council in anyone’s memory — and do it in one of the country’s largest African-American cities where openly gay elected officials are rare if present at all. Whatever obstacles a gay candidate may face running in the rough-and-tumble land of Detroit politics, the unmitigated havoc that’s taken hold in city government recently may trump reluctance to vote for a gay man or woman, three local political observers said in interviews.

Alicia Skillman, who is gay, was preparing to run for city council this year before she became executive director of the Triangle Foundation, a Detroit-based gay-rights advocacy group. Skillman said the city’s problems are so great that voters will look past sexuality.

“I don’t believe they’re going to care about what a person does in their private life, their orientation,” she said. “I think they’re going to care about whether or not the person can do what’s best for the city and do it ethically.”

Ethics have been noticeably lacking in Detroit government. Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sent to jail for corruption; the city council is under FBI investigation for bribery with indictments anticipated for an as-of-yet unspecified council member; former council member Alonzo Bates went to jail for putting family members on the city’s payroll and former councilwoman Kay Everett died under indictment; the Detroit Public Schools mismanaged and stole their way to a $300 million deficit.

Even with these troubles, don’t expect voters to entirely look past sexuality, said Adolph Mongo. The Detroit political consultant said anti-gay sentiment in Detroit, from the clergy to the mayor’s office, has cost the city.

“We had a large-sized gay population in Palmer Park and [Mayor Dennis Archer’s administration] did nothing to protect that area over there. So guess what? They moved right across … 8 Mile Road to Ferndale and now Ferndale has profited from the tax base,” Mongo said.

Pugh Entering Uncharted Territory 

As for Pugh’s chances, there’s little statistical evidence that might predict how an openly gay candidate might fare in Detroit. In 2004, about 52 percent of the city voted for Proposal 2 that defined marriage as strictly between one man and one woman — also known as a ban on gay marriage. However, African-American opposition to gay marriage gained prolific attention this year when 70 percent of African-Americans voted for California’s Proposition 8 marriage amendment. Exit polling showed their turnout — 10 percent — was unusually large and helped pass the measure.

Even though it’s unclear whether Detroit residents would be receptive to an explicitly anti-gay message, Mongo said that Pugh can expect his sexuality to be used against him whisper and flier campaigns along with other stealth tactics. But he said Pugh’s greatest hurdle won’t be his sexuality but his celebrity status.

“You know, Martha Reeves, who had no prior political experience, is not getting big, rave political reviews,” Mongo said, referring to the legendary Motown singer. People must get to know Pugh-the-person, not Pugh-the-TV-personality, he said.

Mongo and Skillman said Pugh will have to work neighborhoods hard and stay focused on the issues at hand.

“I would advise anybody who is going to run for council: If you’re openly gay, don’t run your campaign any other way,” Skillman said. “Just be an openly gay person, but your issue is not your orientation. Your issue is the civic work that needs to be done in the community. That’s what you focus on. You don’t let people take you off that focus.”

State Sen. Hansen Clarke, a Detroit Democrat, said he believes if Pugh’s opponents use his sexuality against him it will backfire. However, Pugh wouldn’t be challenging a specific city council member because the seats are won by winning a percentage of the at-large city vote. This system doesn’t establish who benefits directly from a non-attributed political attack on another candidate.

Clarke said if Pugh can win it would show that sexuality isn’t an insurmountable obstacle for candidates.

“I think the positive impact would be that it shows that the public is concerned with electing someone that’s going to do a good job and serve the public and who they’re attracted to and who they sleep with doesn’t really matter that much,” he said.

Attempts to contact Pugh were not successful.