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Catherine Pugh

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Catherine Pugh
Image of Catherine Pugh

Democratic Party

Prior offices
Maryland House of Delegates
Maryland State Senate District 40
Mayor of Baltimore

Education

Bachelor's

Morgan State University, 1973

Graduate

Morgan State University, 1977

Personal
Profession
President/Chief Executive Officer, CE Pugh & Company
Contact

Personal website

Catherine E. Pugh was the mayor of Baltimore, Maryland. Pugh was elected in 2016 and resigned on May 2, 2019, amidst a federal investigation into sales of her self-published children's book series.[1]

One month before her resignation, Pugh had gone on indefinite leave from the office for health reasons.[2] At that time, City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young (D) took over as mayor. He remained in the position of mayor following Pugh's resignation. Click here to learn more.

Pugh was a Democratic member of the Maryland State Senate, representing District 40. Pugh served as majority leader from 2015 to 2016. She previously served as deputy majority leader. She was first elected to the chamber in 2006 and served until she was sworn in as mayor on December 6, 2016.

Pugh also served in the Maryland House of Delegates; she was appointed to represent District 40 in 2005. Before that, she was a member of the Baltimore City Council representing District 4. She won her first council election in 1999.[3]

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Pugh earned her B.S. in business administration from Morgan State University in 1973 and an MBA in 1977.[4]

Elections

2016

The following candidates ran in the Baltimore mayoral election.[5]
Baltimore Mayoral Election (2016), General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Catherine Pugh 57.61% 134,848
     Democratic Sheila Dixon (write-in) 22.10% 51,716
     Republican Alan Walden 9.96% 23,316
     Green Joshua Harris 9.89% 23,155
     Unaffiliated LaVern Murray (write-in) 0.02% 46
     Independent Frank Logan (write-in) 0.01% 33
     Unaffiliated Sarah Klauda (write-in) 0.01% 25
     Democratic Mack Clifton (write-in) 0.01% 23
     Republican Steven Smith (write-in) 0.00% 8
Write-in votes 0.38% 885
Total Votes 234,055
Source: State of Maryland Board of Elections, "Official 2016 Presidential General Election results for Baltimore City," accessed September 9, 2019


The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary of the Baltimore mayoral election.[6]
Baltimore Mayoral Election (2016), Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Catherine Pugh 36.58% 48,709
     Democratic Sheila Dixon 34.77% 46,301
     Democratic Elizabeth Embry 11.70% 15,576
     Democratic David Warnock 8.15% 10,850
     Democratic Carl Stokes 3.48% 4,628
     Democratic DeRay Mckesson 2.59% 3,445
     Democratic Nick Mosby 1.50% 1,992
     Democratic Calvin Allen Young III 0.49% 646
     Democratic Patrick Gutierrez 0.30% 399
     Democratic Cindy Walsh 0.16% 211
     Democratic Mack Clifton 0.15% 203
     Democratic Gersham Cupid 0.10% 136
     Democratic Wilton Wilson 0.06% 75
Total Votes 133,171
Source: Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2016 Presidential Primary Election results for Baltimore City," May 31, 2016

2016 presidential endorsement

✓ Pugh endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic primary in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[7]

See also: Endorsements for Hillary Clinton

Endorsements

Pugh's endorsements for Mayor of Baltimore in the 2016 election included:

  • Former mayoral candidate Nick Mosby[8]
  • Rep. Elijah E. Cummings[9]
  • A coalition of black community leaders in Baltimore, including attorney William Murphy, who represented the family of Freddie Gray in their civil suit against the city, Rev. Jamal Bryant, and former NAACP chief Benjamin Jealous.[10]

2014

See also: Maryland State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the Maryland State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 24, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was February 25, 2014. Incumbent Catherine Pugh was unopposed in the Democratic primary and was unopposed in the general election.[11][12][13]

2010

See also: Maryland State Senate elections, 2010

Pugh ran for re-election to the 40th District seat in 2010. She had no opposition. The general election took place on November 2, 2010.[14]

Maryland State Senate, District 40 (2010) General Election
Candidates Votes Percent
Green check mark transparent.png

Catherine Pugh (D)

21,778 100%

2006

On November 7, 2006, Pugh ran for District 40 of the Maryland State Senate, beating Stephen George.[15]

Maryland Senate, District 40
Candidates Votes Percent
Catherine Pugh (D) 20,112 90.1%
Stephen George (R) 2,160 9.7%
Write-Ins 52 0.2%

Campaign themes

2016

Pugh's campaign website listed the following themes for 2016:

“

I am running for Mayor because I love Baltimore. This is my family, this is my calling, and this is my life.

I have been a passionate leader in the public sector and a dynamic force in the private sector. These diverse experiences give me the knowledge I need to bring all of our communities together.

At one level, a city is an aspiration, a dream of what we might become.

A city is also an institution with specific commitments, to pick up the garbage, to keep the streets safe, to educate our children. Best practices will be the cornerstone of this administration. We will increase the use of technology to track our dollars, measure our effectiveness, and provide accountability.

We will break the cycle of poverty by promoting economic inclusion for broad-based prosperity. We will enhance training programs and align them with real jobs. We will eliminate the barriers to services and careers for returning citizens. There’s a place for all Baltimoreans in my Baltimore. No one is surplus, no one is extra. We need every son and daughter of this great city involved, engaged, and thriving.

We will improve our schools and reduce crime. I will move to return governance of our schools to our city and provide support for the menu of educational options that help improve outcomes for our students as we prepare them for college and careers.

We will rebuild trust between police officers and the community, taking care of our officers and our people, and confront the root causes of crime.

My goal is to improve the quality of life for all our citizens which includes eliminating boarded-up homes and food desserts, improving health outcomes and transportation options, lighting our neighborhoods, reducing taxes, taking care of our environment and infrastructure and improving the image of our city. The city needs a leader who will serve with honesty, integrity and transparency.

That’s who I am, and this is the job for me. [16]

”
—Catherine Pugh (2016), [17]

Committee assignments

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Pugh served on the following committees:

Maryland committee assignments, 2015
• Executive Nominations
• Finance
• Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review
• Audit
• Legislative Policy
• Spending Affordability

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Pugh served on these committees:

Note: Pugh also served on the Subcommittee on Transportation (Chair).

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Pugh served on these committees:

Note: Pugh also served on the Special Committee on Substance Abuse (Vice Chair).

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Catherine Pugh campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2014Maryland State Senate, District 40Won $311,069 N/A**
2010Maryland State Senate, District 40Won $306,285 N/A**
2006Maryland State Senate, District 40Won $70,769 N/A**
Grand total$688,123 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Noteworthy events

Prison sentence and resignation as mayor (2019)

See also: Noteworthy criminal misconduct in American politics (2019-2020)

On November 21, 2019, Pugh pleaded guilty to three different crimes: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the government, and two counts of tax evasion.[18] She was originally indicted on 11 corruption charges that resulted from an investigation into Pugh's self-published children's' book series Healthy Holly.[19] Pugh resigned as Mayor of Baltimore on May 2, 2019. On Feb. 27, 2020, Pugh was sentenced to three years in prison.[20]

The timeline below covers the noteworthy events leading up to Pugh's sentence.

  • March 28, 2019: Pugh amended past years of ethics disclosure forms she had filed with the state to reflect that she owned Healthy Holly LLC and sold 100,000 books to the University of Maryland Medical System over eight years for $500,000 while she was on their board of directors. According to the Baltimore Sun, her city ethics forms did not disclose her seat on the board in 2016 or 2017, and she did not disclose Healthy Holly LLC as a source of income prior to 2017. City ethics rules require all sources of income to be disclosed.[21]
  • April 1, 2019: Pugh announced that she would take an indefinite leave of absence for health reasons.[2]
  • April 3, 2019: The Baltimore Board of Ethics opened an investigation into whether Pugh's selling of her children's books called "Healthy Holly" violated the city's ethics rules. The board initially received a letter on March 28 from Associated Black Charities describing five groups who donated $87,000 to purchase 10,000 copies of the books between 2011 and 2016. The letter stated that Pugh worked with the charity during her time as a state senator to distribute copies of her books.[19]
  • April 8, 2019: All the members of the Baltimore City Council called for Pugh's resignation as mayor. City council member Eric Costello tweeted a memo stating, "The entire membership of the Baltimore City Council believes that it is not in the best interest of the City of Baltimore, for you to continue to serve as Mayor. We urge you to tender your resignation, effective immediately." Below the message were the signatures of the 14 members of the city council.[22]
  • April 25, 2019: Gov. Larry Hogan (R) called on Pugh to resign. "Mayor Pugh has lost the public trust. She is clearly not fit to lead. For the good of the city, Mayor Pugh must resign," he said.[23]
  • April 26, 2019: The FBI and IRS conducted searches of several Baltimore locations, including Pugh's two homes, the Baltimore city hall, and Pugh's lawyer's office.[24]
  • May 2, 2019: Pugh resigned as mayor, stating, "I'm sorry for the harm that I have caused to the image of the city of Baltimore and the credibility of the office of the mayor."[25]
  • February 27, 2020: Pugh was sentenced to three years in prison.[20]
  • June 2020: Pugh began her sentence.[26] Her campaign also returned roughly $860,000 in donations to 1,067 donors, according to her campaign treasurer.[27]


Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term Catherine + Pugh + Maryland + Senate

Catherine Pugh News Feed

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ NBC Washington, "Baltimore's Mayor Resigns Following Controversy, Calls to Resign," May 2, 2019
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Baltimore Sun, "Baltimore Mayor Pugh to take leave of absence in midst of 'Healthy Holly' book controversy," April 1, 2019
  3. ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Timeline: Baltimore Mayor Catheirne Pugh's political career," accessed December 15, 2019
  4. ↑ Catherine Pugh,Maryland State Senator
  5. ↑ State of Maryland Board of Elections, "Official 2016 Presidential General Election results for Baltimore City," accessed September 9, 2019
  6. ↑ State of Maryland Board of Elections, "Baltimore City 2016 Presidential Primary Election Local Candidates List," accessed February 4, 2016
  7. ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Hillary Clinton announces endorsements from Maryland women," April 9, 2016
  8. ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Nick Mosby drops out of mayoral race, backs Pugh," April 13, 2016
  9. ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Elijah Cummings endorses Catherine Pugh for Baltimore mayor," April 12, 2016
  10. ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Pugh, Edwards pick up endorsements from Baltimore African-American leaders," April 13, 2016
  11. ↑ Maryland Secretary of State, "Official primary election candidate list," accessed March 3, 2014
  12. ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2014 Gubernatorial Primary Election results for State Senate," accessed December 5, 2014
  13. ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "2014 Official General Election Results," accessed April 30, 2015
  14. ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "2010 General Election Official Results," accessed March 24, 2014
  15. ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2006 Gubernatorial General Election results for State Senator," accessed February 24, 2014
  16. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  17. ↑ Catherine Pugh for Mayor, "Five Pillars for Moving Our City Forward," accessed September 29, 2016
  18. ↑ NPR, "Former Baltimore Mayor Pleads Guilty in Children's Book Scandal," November 21, 2019
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Baltimore Sun, "Baltimore Board of Ethics to investigate 'Healthy Holly' sales; groups that donated to buy books revealed," April 3, 2019
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 CBS Baltimore, "Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison In ‘Healthy Holly’ Scandal," accessed February 27, 2020
  21. ↑ Baltimore Sun, "Baltimore Mayor Pugh Apologizes for 'Healthy Holly' deal but admits some books being delivered only now," accessed April 8, 2019
  22. ↑ Twitter, "Eric Costello on Twitter," April 8, 2019
  23. ↑ Axios, "Baltimore’s mayor urged to resign after FBI and IRS raids," April 25, 2019
  24. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named search
  25. ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Baltimore Mayor Pugh resigns amid growing children's book scandal," accessed December 9, 2019
  26. ↑ Baltimore Sun, "Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh reports to federal prison. What can she expect?" June 26, 2020
  27. ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh returns $860K to campaign donors," June 11, 2020
Political offices
Preceded by
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D) 		Mayor of Baltimore
2016-2019 		Succeeded by
Bernard C. "Jack" Young (D)
Preceded by
- 		Maryland Senate District 40
2007–2016 		Succeeded by
Barbara Robinson (D)
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