Pamela Pugh is currently the president of the Michigan State Board of Education and one of three Democrats running for Michigan's 8th congressional district seat.
The seat is an open one, due to U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint) announcing his retirement earlier this year.
In the third installment of WCMU’s “Get to Know the Candidate” interview series, Pugh spoke about her background, platform, and plans if elected to Congress.
Pugh is no rookie in the politics game.
“My parents always had me very involved and very engaged in politics and making sure that. From a young child, understanding the importance of putting people in office who could carry forward agendas that were important to the people,” Pugh said during a phone interview with WCMU.
Since then, Pugh has served as a delegate at past Democratic National Conventions and held leadership roles with state and national Democratic organizations.
She has held elected office with the Michigan State Board of Education since 2015.
Prior to her run for Congress, she worked in public health. She has a doctorate in public health and served as the chief public health advisor for the city of Flint.
“Working in Flint during one of the most horrific man-made crisis, knowing that the people of Michigan deserve a fighter who will stand up for our children, who will stand up for justice and who will stand up for the dignity of people,” Pugh said.
Fighting for dignity is the narrative heard throughout Pugh’s platform. In addition to environmental dignity, she said economic dignity is at the heart of her campaign.
She defines this issue as wages to support both individuals and families, job creation and supporting workers and unions via strong labor laws.
She said she sees this idea translating to Congress by “making sure that our government works for people, regardless of who they know, regardless of what their connections are, what their income is,” Pugh said.
Public health remains top of mind as well. She said her history in Saginaw, bringing in nearly $10 million addressing health and environmental issues, makes her qualified to represent the 8th district.
Her focus on funding in the district can be tied to her views on funding bills up for debate in the House and Senate.
In regards to the war in Ukraine, Pugh said she "would look very closely at those dollars, making sure that we're doing everything we can do to maintain peace, but also making sure that we're balancing that with dollars that are needed right here in communities."
Pugh faces fellow Democrats Matt Collier and State Senator Kristen McDonald-Rivet in the August 6th primary.
