After campaigning for the last few months for the competitive U.S. Senate seat, Michigan’s State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh announced her bid for the state’s 8th Congressional District on Monday. Pugh, a Saginaw native with a background in public health, is the first Democrat to officially announce her run following news that Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) would not seek reelection due to a cancer diagnosis.
“After hearing from several community leaders and stakeholders, I have decided to become a candidate for Michigan’s 8th congressional district instead of continuing a campaign for the United States senate,” Pugh announced in a press release. “My decision to seek federal office was always rooted in two goals. I wanted to ensure that communities like my hometown had a strong, capable, and experienced voice in Washington and I wanted to ensure Michigan added more women to the ranks of power.”
So far, for the 8th Congressional District seat, Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley has launched an exploratory committee for a possible run as a Democrat and Republicans Paul Junge of Grand Blanc and Martin Blank of Saginaw County, are also seeking to fill the seat.
