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In Tumultuous Baltimore, She’ll Be in Charge and Look Like It In Tumultuous Baltimore, She’ll Be in Charge and Look Like It
(about 9 hours later)
BALTIMORE — Catherine E. Pugh had her breakout moment on the tense streets of West Baltimore last spring, two nights after riots broke out here. With angry protesters violating a 10 p.m. curfew, Ms. Pugh, the Democratic leader of the Maryland Senate, stared down Geraldo Rivera, the Fox News anchor, and berated him on national television for “inciting people.”BALTIMORE — Catherine E. Pugh had her breakout moment on the tense streets of West Baltimore last spring, two nights after riots broke out here. With angry protesters violating a 10 p.m. curfew, Ms. Pugh, the Democratic leader of the Maryland Senate, stared down Geraldo Rivera, the Fox News anchor, and berated him on national television for “inciting people.”
On Wednesday — precisely one year to the day after the unrest — Baltimore woke up to the news that Ms. Pugh was its presumptive next mayor. Tuesday night, she won a narrow victory in a crowded field to become the Democratic nominee, which in heavily Democratic Baltimore is tantamount to winning in November. On Wednesday — precisely one year after the unrest — Baltimore woke up to the news that Ms. Pugh was its presumptive next mayor. She won a narrow victory Tuesday night in a crowded field to become the Democratic nominee, which in heavily Democratic Baltimore is tantamount to winning in November.
“Nobody gave this campaign a chance. We couldn’t get a campaign manager until February first,” Ms. Pugh told a racially mixed crowd of supporters at her victory party on Tuesday night, in a downtown hotel’s ballroom here. She called the win “a milestone” for herself and for the city. “Nobody gave this campaign a chance,’’ Ms. Pugh told a racially mixed crowd of supporters at her victory party Tuesday night, calling the win “a milestone” for herself and for the city.
She was surrounded by some of the city’s biggest establishment figures, including Representative Elijah E. Cummings, a powerful Democrat, who told the crowd, “It’s wonderful that we are seeing change come to our city.” Also on stage was Billy Murphy, the lawyer for the family of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man whose death, after an injury while in police custody, spawned last spring’s violence. But the challenges she faces, in a majority African-American city torn by the wrenching national debate over race and policing, were immediately clear.
And Ms. Pugh was joined by some not-so-establishment figures as well, including Kwame Rose, a 21-year-old hip-hop artist, writer, activist and self-described “college dropout” who has been arrested by the police repeatedly while waging protests over Mr. Gray’s death. He voted for the first time, escorted to the polls by Ms. Pugh, on Tuesday. On Wednesday afternoon, as demonstrators were remembering Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man whose death after a fatal spinal cord injury in police custody set off last year’s violence, the police here shot and injured a 13-year-old boy who was carrying a toy gun. The boy’s injuries were not considered life-threatening.
In a city where many longed for a fresh face in the mayor’s office, Ms. Pugh, 66, who has been in politics here for nearly two decades, is certainly not that.
Arrayed on stage behind her at Tuesday’s victory party were some of the city’s biggest establishment figures, including Representative Elijah E. Cummings, a powerful Democrat, and Billy Murphy, the lawyer for the family of Mr. Gray. Yet Ms. Pugh was also joined by some not-so-establishment figures, among them Kwame Rose, a 21-year-old hip-hop artist, writer and activist who voted for the first time, escorted to the polls by Ms. Pugh, on Tuesday.
“I think it’s easier to have the conversations about race and race relations,” Ms. Pugh said in an interview Tuesday, summing up what she views as the changes in the city over the last year. “It’s easier to have the conversations about being more inclusive. It’s easier to have the conversations about how important it is to lift the least of us while we lift all of us.”“I think it’s easier to have the conversations about race and race relations,” Ms. Pugh said in an interview Tuesday, summing up what she views as the changes in the city over the last year. “It’s easier to have the conversations about being more inclusive. It’s easier to have the conversations about how important it is to lift the least of us while we lift all of us.”
Now Ms. Pugh and Baltimore are going to have a different conversation about how to move the city forward after a wrenching, tumultuous year. Asked her top priority, she had three words: “Get Baltimore working.” Now Ms. Pugh and Baltimore are going to have a different conversation about how to move the city forward after a painful, tumultuous year. Asked her top priority, she had three words: “Get Baltimore working.”
Whether Ms. Pugh can bring Baltimore together remains to be seen. While she clearly has the political establishment’s backing, her closest opponent, Sheila Dixon, a former mayor who was forced out of office amid a corruption scandal, remains hugely popular in some of the city’s poorest African-American neighborhoods. Whether Ms. Pugh can bring Baltimore together remains to be seen. Her closest opponent, Sheila Dixon, a former mayor who was forced out of office amid a corruption scandal, remains hugely popular in some of the city’s poorest African-American neighborhoods.
People in Baltimore have no illusions about the hard work ahead. The city has deep systemic problems that fueled last spring’s unrest — and that predate it by decades. Unemployment, particularly among young black men, is high. Crime has spiraled out of control; last year, Baltimore, with roughly 623,000 people, had about as many murders as New York, with a population of 8.4 million. Thousands of abandoned and dilapidated rowhouses line city streets. In West Baltimore on Wednesday, demonstrators marked the anniversary of the unrest with speeches and song at an all-day rally in front of the CVS pharmacy that was looted and burned last year. Many were not Pugh backers; their despair was palpable.
“A lot of people don’t trust politicians; we vote for politicians promising us stuff and they never keep their word,’’ said Dante Bradley, a 26-year-old chef, cradling his 4-year-old daughter. He has been reading Malcolm X and other black writers. He did not vote on Tuesday, he said, but if he had, he would have cast his ballot for another candidate: City Councilman Carl Stokes.
People in Baltimore have no illusions about the hard work ahead. The city has deep systemic problems that fueled last spring’s unrest — and that predate it by decades. Unemployment, particularly among young black men, is high. Crime has spiraled out of control; last year, Baltimore, with roughly 623,000 people, had about as many murders as New York, with a population of 8.4 million. (There were three murders in Baltimore last weekend alone.) Thousands of abandoned and dilapidated rowhouses line city streets.
“To assume that whomever you elect mayor is going to wave a magic wand and change that dynamic — that’s not going to happen,” said Courtney Billups, 47, a lawyer who recently moved here from Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where he spent four years in public office as a county commissioner elected as a Democrat.“To assume that whomever you elect mayor is going to wave a magic wand and change that dynamic — that’s not going to happen,” said Courtney Billups, 47, a lawyer who recently moved here from Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where he spent four years in public office as a county commissioner elected as a Democrat.
Ms. Pugh, 66, says she understands that. She called herself “a person of best practices” and said she had been combing through research conducted by the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance, a branch of the University of Baltimore. Ms. Pugh says she understands that. She called herself “a person of best practices” and said she had been combing through research conducted by the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance, a branch of the University of Baltimore.
“I know the neighborhoods where unemployment is the highest,” she aid. “I understand that we have 77,000 people unemployed in this city.” “I know the neighborhoods where unemployment is the highest,” she said. “I understand that we have 77,000 people unemployed in this city.”
If she wins in November as expected, Ms. Pugh will succeed Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, once a rising star among national Democrats who fell out of favor at home after the unrest over the Freddie Gray case. Ms. Pugh, 66, lost the Democratic nomination for mayor to Ms. Rawlings-Blake, 46, in 2011 (the city then had odd-year elections), coming in second in a five-way race. Ms. Pugh is in her third term in the Maryland Senate, where she is the majority leader. If she wins in November as expected, Ms. Pugh will succeed Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, once a rising star among national Democrats who fell out of favor at home after the unrest over the Freddie Gray case. Ms. Pugh, 20 years her senior, lost the Democratic nomination for mayor to Ms. Rawlings-Blake in 2011 (the city then had odd-year elections), coming in second in a five-way race. Ms. Pugh is in her third term in the Maryland Senate, where she is the majority leader.
A public relations executive and children’s book author who helped found the Baltimore Marathon and an African-American newspaper, Ms. Pugh, a native of Pennsylvania, has a master’s degree in business administration from Morgan State University here. In Annapolis this year, she led a push — with some success — for broad changes in the way police officers are trained and suspected police misconduct is investigated. A public relations executive and children’s book author who helped found the Baltimore Marathon and an African-American newspaper, Ms. Pugh, a native of Pennsylvania, has a master’s degree in business administration from Morgan State University here. In Annapolis this year, she won plaudits for leading a push — with some success — for broad changes in the way police officers are trained and suspected police misconduct is investigated.
Beyond her professional resume, and her on-air clash with Mr. Rivera, one thing Ms. Pugh is known for in Baltimore is her impeccable attire. At a recent campaign forum where candidates told stories of their first jobs, she regaled the crowd with her tale of working as a stock girl at Bonwit Teller, the department store, and of her complaints to her father that $100 at the start of the school year was simply not enough for a proper wardrobe. Her campaign fliers bore the slogan “Honest, Trustworthy, Unquestioned Integrity.’’ But some of Ms. Pugh’s opponents attacked her for soliciting campaign contributions from lobbyists appearing before her on legislative business; The Baltimore Sun, which endorsed her, editorialized that the move ‘‘may follow the letter of Maryland’s campaign finance law but not its spirit.’’
“I said, ‘What am I going to do with this, I won’t be able to make it through the week,’” she recalled. “And so he said, ‘You need to get a job.’” Asked about that, Ms. Pugh grew testy, saying of her rivals: “They threw dirt because they wanted to win a race.’’
She looked so sharp as a stock girl, she recounted, that a clothes buyer pulled her out of the back room and insisted the young Ms. Pugh model her fashion line instead. She said her love of fashion came from her mother: “My mother always used to say to us that we should dress as though we’re in charge.” She also flashed some sharp elbows. When Jayne Miller, a television reporter with WBAL here, asked Ms. Pugh if there would be room for Ms. Dixon in City Hall, she replied tartly, “Not in my administration,” adding, “I’m going to be looking for the best and the brightest.”
Beyond her professional résumé, and her on-air clash with Mr. Rivera, one thing Ms. Pugh is known for in Baltimore is her impeccable attire.
At a recent campaign forum where candidates told stories of their first jobs, she regaled the crowd with her tale of working as a stock girl at Bonwit Teller. She looked so sharp that a clothes buyer pulled her out of the back room and insisted the young Ms. Pugh model her fashion line instead.
She said her love of fashion came from her mother: “My mother always used to say to us that we should dress as though we’re in charge.”