Councilman George Cushingberry
Councilman George Cushingberry
Detroit City Council President Pro Tem George Cushingberry Jr., who suffered a stinging defeat for re-election in the August primary, isn't giving up.
He's filed to run as a write-in candidate in the November general election, Katrease Stafford of the Detroit Free Press reports.
Cushingberry, aka "Cush," came in third place in the Aug. 8 District 2 primary race with 19% of the vote. He trailed Roy McCalister Jr. with 24% and former state Sen. Virgil Smith 22%. The two top vote-getters run against each other in the November election.
Write-in campaigns are often thought to be long shots.
But in the August 2013 primary, Mike Duggan won in a write-in campaign for mayor. He was then placed on the ballot in the November election and went on to win.
Cushingberry, 64, has had his share of controversy during his reign on council.
In 2015, the Michigan Attorney Grievance Board suspended his license for a year because Cushingberry stonewalled an investigation into a complaint about his professional conduct.
Several days after taking office in January 2014, police pulled him over during a routine traffic stop after he left a strip club in Detroit. Officers found open alcohol and marijuana.
Cushingberry refused to get out of his car after police suspected he was driving under the influence. A Detroit police patrol supervisor was called to the scene and let Cushingberry drive off.
Later that month, Police Chief James Craig declared that Cushingberry was clearly given preferential treatment.
"Clearly, in our minds, we will never know if the councilman was under the influence," he said at the time.
