Michigan State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh is launching her campaign Tuesday for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow, hoping to change the fact that there's no Black women currently serving in the upper chamber.
Pugh, 52, of Saginaw is a former state House candidate who won a second, eight-year term on the statewide Board of Education last fall with over 2 million votes. She noted she's the only candidate in the race so far to have won two statewide races in Michigan.
"The people of this state want someone who is a fighter. They want someone who they know knows their values, but also knows their struggles," Pugh told The Detroit News in an interview. "We've heard from the people, and people are excited, as we are. We know that it's going to be a tough race, but we are up for it."
Pugh was set to make her formal announcement Tuesday morning at Comma Bookstore in Flint, where she served as the chief public health adviser during Flint's lead-tainted water crisis from October 2016 to November 2019. She will pitch herself as someone who "shows up," is accessible and knows how to connect with stakeholders and policy experts across a diverse state.
Pugh, who filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission last week, is the latest Democrat to declare in the Senate race that includes three-term U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Lansing, former state Rep. Leslie Love of Detroit, Dearborn businessman Nasser Beydoun and attorney Zack Burns of Ann Arbor. The actor Hill Harper is also expected to jump into the race.
While no Black women currently serve in the Senate, Pugh and Love are among several Black female candidates who could fill that void in two years, including Democratic U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee of California and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, whom longtime U.S. Sen. Tom Carper endorsed when he announced his retirement Monday.
"There have been too few of black women — despite our experiences, our strengths, our qualifications — who have served on the U.S. Senate," Pugh said.
"Having won two statewide elections and winning them handily, I know that I am prepared, I know that I am electable. ... I definitely believe that the voice of a Black woman needs to be at the table, deserves to be at the table, and I am qualified to be at the table."
Pugh's background is in chemical engineering and public health with a focus on environmental health risks to children. Her resume includes helping lead the push to get racism declared a public health crisis in Michigan, serving on the Michigan Environmental Council Board of Directors and 14 years working for the Saginaw County Department of Public Health.
On the Board of Education, she touts her efforts to push back against conservative efforts to water down social studies curricula and other efforts to "censor" what kids are learning in public schools, including the "ugly parts" of American history, she said. As the state board vice president, she sided with Detroit students in the "right to literacy" civil lawsuit they brought against their school district in 2016, even though she was a named defendant in the case.
Pugh also stressed her experience working in diverse communities across the state and said she anticipates a campaign focused on fighting climate change, ensuring a quality education system and "economic dignity."
"What I mean by that is going to a job where you are respected, where you're paid what you deserve to be paid ... that you're able to put food on the table, making sure that you have enough energy at the end of the day to enjoy your family, have quality of life, have quality and affordable healthcare, and then being able to retire with dignity," Pugh said.
Pugh said she supports abortion rights, President Joe Biden's student debt forgiveness plan and commended Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, for reintroducing her Medicare For All legislation last week.
Pugh said she intends to remain on the Board of Education during her campaign, but will leave her day job as the chief programs officer for Baltimore-based Chisholm Legacy Project, whose focus is working to ensure healthy Black communities that are working toward renewable energy sources.
"It's a huge undertaking and will take every hour of my day," she said.
Pugh noted her grassroots experience with the Democratic Party, serving as the former second vice president of the National Federation of Democratic Women; the immediate past chair of the Michigan Democratic Women's Caucus; and as a pledged delegate for several Democratic national conventions including in 2004, 2016 and 2020.
She ran for the state House in 2010 but came in last in the Democratic primary for the 95th District with 17% of the vote.
Pugh graduated from Saginaw High School and holds a doctor of public health and master of science degrees from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Florida A&M University, an historically Black university.
The contest for Stabenow's seat could be key in deciding which party controls the chamber in 2025. Democrats hold a 51-49 edge now. Stabenow has said she won't endorse in the primary.
