In her inaugural remarks Tuesday as speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, Democrat Joseline Peña-Melnyk singled out mentors she referred to as “so many sisters from other misters.”
Among them was former lawmaker Catherine Pugh, who served many years in the General Assembly as a delegate and senator, and was mayor of Baltimore from 2016 to 2019, when she resigned amid a growing scandal over her sales of a self-published children’s book series known as “Healthy Holly.” Pugh was later convicted of fraud charges and served time in federal prison.
In remarks, Peña-Melnyk recognized Pugh, who was among the onlookers, as “a former senator, who we conspired [with] so many times in this House and got into trouble, former mayor of Baltimore, Catherine Pugh.”
Political analysts told The Baltimore Sun this could have been a risky move for a newly elected speaker — aligning herself with someone seen to have abused her own public office.
“Nothing about their failure to follow the law necessarily means that you can no longer have a personal relationship with them,” Jason Johnson, a political commentator on MS NOW and a Morgan State University professor, told The Baltimore Sun on Wednesday. “But to bring up that personal relationship in regards to how you will perform your public duties is not always smart.”
Flavio Hickel, who teaches political science at Washington College, said voters could have a “negative impression” upon learning of Peña-Melnyk and Pugh’s closeness.
“Voters may not be overly familiar with this,” Hickel said. “So just reading a headline that the speaker is celebrating a former mayor that was convicted is going to rub people the wrong way.”
Peña-Melnyk did not respond to requests for comment. The Sun couldn’t reach Pugh for comment.
‘Pugh’s past is just that. Her past’
But Maryland Democrats and Republicans who spoke with The Sun aren’t fazed by Peña-Melnyk associating herself with the former mayor.
Democratic Del. Adrian Boafo, assistant House Majority Leader, was blunt — “Pugh’s past is just that. Her past,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s a reflection on those she served with while in the legislature,” Boafo wrote in a text message Wednesday to The Sun.
Rep. Kweisi Mfume, who sought leniency for Pugh ahead of her sentencing, said Pugh “paid her debt to society.”
“Her future is really up to her to design,” Mfume, a Baltimore City Democrat, told The Sun. “I don’t know that she has any desire to come back into political office as much as she has a desire to try to help nonprofits in the city.”
Republicans also expressed similar sentiments.
House Minority Leader Jason Buckel said that although he was “surprised” to see Pugh in Annapolis, he “didn’t have any opinion on it or frankly remember it from all of the shoutouts and remarks yesterday.”
“If that’s who the Speaker chose to invite as a guest, that’s up to her, and people can infer from it whatever they think reasonable,” Buckel wrote in a text message to The Sun.
And Rep. Chris Bouchat said he respected Peña-Melnyk’s comments from his “perspective as a fellow Christian.”
“Regardless of our sins and mistakes we are all brothers and sisters worthy of redemption,” he told The Sun.
‘Inside baseball’
Pugh in 2019 pleaded guilty to fraud and tax evasion charges stemming from her having double-sold her self-published children’s books to company executives and nonprofit directors in Baltimore. She was sentenced in 2020, left prison in 2022 and later went on probation, which a federal judge terminated in 2024.
But as Peña-Melnyk spoke shortly after the House voted her as its top leader, she noted Pugh as being among several political leaders in the state she is close with. At that moment, delegates’ applause was rapturous, and multiple individuals cheered.
As much as political analysts believe the new speaker recognizing Pugh in her inaugural speech may be tricky, they also contend that it’s not a scandalous moment likely to persist for a long period.
Hickel argued that “most voters are not really paying attention to that kind of inside baseball, local political news,” and pointed to a recent poll from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County that found that the issue Marylanders care most about is the cost of living.
“Who the speaker calls out in their inaugural speech is just not going to be a top concern for most voters,” Hickel said. “It’s going to probably slip through their minds, and the news cycle is going to change before they get back into it after the holidays are over.”
Johnson argued that the political world gives “way too much credit to who people’s influences…and mentors are.”
“You could scan through almost any public figure’s life and find people who are a problem, and find people who are like, ‘Oh, I can’t believe they’re friends with them. I can’t believe they took pictures with them. As a voter, I’m not overly concerned about that,’” he said. “ Now, if I start seeing it manifest in policy or appointments, then we have a conversation.”
In 2020, The Sun won the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting for the staff’s work uncovering the “Healthy Holly” book-publishing scheme that led to Pugh’s resignation and contributed to her federal conviction on fraud and other charges. Prior to her political career, Pugh owned a marketing and public relations firm, and she was once an editor of special supplements to The Baltimore Sun.
Mennatalla Ibrahim contributed to this article. Have a news tip? Contact Tinashe Chingarande tchingarande@baltsun.com or on Signal as Tnae.19
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