The Detroit Free Press has endorsed Dave Coulter in his race for the Michigan State Senate.  If he wins, Coulter would become the state’s first openly gay senator and the only out member of the Michigan state legislature.

Six Democrats are competing in the primary, but the Free Press said Coulter is the clear choice for voters:

Coulter…has both a track record of significant bipartisan achievement and an instinctive feel for the places where politicians with disparate objectives can find common ground. As minority leader of the Oakland County Commission, the 50-year-old Coulter has brokered a series of budget deals that won unanimous support from legislators split almost evenly between the two major parties. He also spearheaded a bipartisan, tri-county initiative that put the Detroit Zoo on solid financial footing.

Because he seems prepared to play a significant role in negotiating a grand bargain between Democrats bent on restructuring taxes and Republicans determined to shrink government, DAVID COULTER is the best choice for Democrats.

For more information about Coulter’s campaign, go here.

Chris Armstrong, an openly gay junior and former intern at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, has been elected president of the University of Michigan Student Assembly, which represents tens of thousands of students at one of the country’s most prestigious schools.

“I am so humbled by the fact that the student body voted for us. It’s really hard for me to put into words how incredibly elated I feel,” Armstrong told The Michigan Daily.  Armstrong has served for two years as chair of the assembly’s LGBT Commission.

The University of Michigan is located in Ann Arbor, where America’s first openly LGBT candidate was elected to public office.  Kathy Kozachenko, an out lesbian, won a seat on the Ann Arbor City Council in January of 1974.  Later that year Elaine Noble of Boston, Massachusetts, became the second openly LGBT candidate to be elected in the U.S., and the first openly LGBT state legislator.

The Victory Fund is currently recruiting summer interns.  For more information, visit victoryfund.org/internships.

Photo:  Sam Wolson/The Michigan Daily

Victory Fund-endorsed candidate Charles Pugh, who could become Detroit’s first openly gay city councilmember, finished first among more than 160 candidates in last night’s primary, a remarkable feat for a first-time candidate.  The primary reduced to 18 the number of candidates who will compete for nine at-large council seats on November 3rd.

“I’m humbled by one vote. I’m humbled by any vote. If we made the top 18, I would be happy,” Pugh told the Detroit News.

Learn more about Charles Pugh and how you can help him win in November here.

Garnet Lewis (left) and volunteers prepare to knock
on doors in Michigan’s 98th district.

While most of the Victory Fund’s staff is at our home base in Washington, D.C., we’ve sent some staff into the field — including Lauren Peters and Tressa Feher, members of our campaign services team. Lauren and Tressa, both native Michiganders, have been up north since last Thursday helping Victory endorsee Garnet Lewis implement her get-out-the-vote plan. Garnet hopes to represent Michigan’s 98th district in the state’s House of Representatives.

Lauren took a few minutes to send some pictures from the field and let us know how things are progressing.

Tressa and I have finally found some downtime to send you an update on what we’ve been up to so far.

We walked into a very organized campaign when we arrived in Michigan. Garn’s father mastered VoteBuilder and had lists of targeted doors and precincts organized and ready to go for the lit drops before we even got there.

Our first night we met with Garn and her team at a local restaurant to talk about GOTV weekend. Also that night, we went to the National Education Association’s GOTV meeting where Garn spoke and received a standing ovation. She was clearly a big hit with how hard she’s worked and the event wasn’t even in her district. After that, we drove back to her house to work with 18 others to put together the 6,600 lit packets for targeted Midland households. These 18 people (mostly volunteers) have clearly been here from the very beginning of the campaign and are very invested in the race and excited to help.

Tressa Feher (right) from the Victory Fund works with Garnet's volunteers.

On Saturday morning we arrived at the Midland Democratic Club to do lit drops for the Midland area of her district. 70 people showed up to walk. Tressa and I walked with a woman named Claudia who has been involved with Democratic politics in this area for quite awhile. Claudia expressed her excitement for this race and how Garn’s campaign is more organized and effective compared to how local Democratic campaigns have been ran before.

We dropped about 400 pieces of lit between the three of us on targeted doors. Claudia was a hard worker and very knowledgeable about the district. After the lit drop, we went to the Operating Engineers’ Union Hall, which has been serving as Garn’s headquarters for pizza to thank the volunteers. You can tell this is a very tightly knit group.

On Sunday we dropped lit in the Saginaw area and the remaining parts of Midland. By the end of the day, we only had 300 houses left to hit in Garn’s district from our targeted list. After we finished our lists, we met up with the group at the Saginaw Democratic Club and chatted about the race and the negative attacks. The feeling in the room was still very positive regardless of the attacks because Garn and her team have been knocking on doors since December of last year. Some of these doors she hit three times.

We met with Garn and her team at breakfast today to discuss the rest of today’s schedule and GOTV for tomorrow. Tressa and I went and did one of the lit drop packets left over from the Midland area (completing all of the targeted households). After that, we met with the two Campaign for Change (Barack Obama’s coordinated campaign) offices for Midland and Saginaw Counties to figure out how we could coordinate GOTV efforts. After that we went grocery shopping for Election Day to feed and water the volunteers.

Right now, we are now hanging out at Garn’s house with her family. Her mom and grandma flew up to be here for Election Day so they have a house full right now. Marv, Garn’s dad, is in the office printing out walking lists for the “Vote Today” cards that we’ll be dropping at targeted doors tomorrow at 4 a.m. (PAIN!). He is also printing off walk-sheets with phone numbers that are Garn’s IDs that are Republican and independent infrequent voters so we can call them and knock on their doors to encourage them to vote tomorrow. Like I said before, Marv has really mastered using VoteBuilder.

Also, it will be 70 degrees and sunny tomorrow for Election Day. We couldn’t ask for better weather.