Brian Manzullo

Detroit Free Press

The Detroit News made history with its presidential endorsement this morning - but not in the way you might expect.

For the first time in the newspaper's 143-year history, its editorial board endorsed a presidential candidate who wasn't a Republican. But instead of endorsing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, like many other newspapers in a similar conundrum, the News chose third-party candidate Gary Johnson, on the Libertarian ticket.

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This strikes as quite a surprise, considering Johnson has virtually zero chance of being voted into office -- his poll numbers hover roughly between 8-12%, far behind Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump -- and because other newspapers who traditionally endorse Republican candidates opted to endorse Clinton this fall.

That includes The Arizona Republic, based in Phoenix, as well as The Cincinnati Enquirer, which stated "it has to be Hillary Clinton."

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But the News' editorial board wrote "character matters," and that it couldn't endorse a candidate who has "career-long struggles with honesty and ethics."

"We recognize the Libertarian candidate is the longest of long shots with an electorate that has been conditioned to believe only Republicans and Democrats can win major offices," the News' editorial board wrote.

"But this is an endorsement of conscience, reflecting our confidence that Johnson would be a competent and capable president and an honorable one."

The News' editorial board later wrote: "We anticipate our decision not to support either of the major party candidates will bring charges that we are throwing away our endorsement. Our contention is that an endorsement based on conscience is never wasted.

"We urge readers who share our disillusionment with the presidential ballot and disdain for the GOP nominee to join us in casting a conscience vote for Gary Johnson."

The Detroit News was founded in 1873. Though it is owned separately by Digital First Media, it shares business operations with the Free Press under a joint operating agreement.

Contact Brian Manzullo: bmanzullo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianManzullo.