Stephen Pugh

Stephen E. "Steve" Pugh​
Louisiana State Representative for District 73 (Tangipahoa Parish)​
In office January 14, 2008​ – ​Janury 13, 2020
Preceded by	Henry "Tank" Powell​
Succeeded by	William Wheat
Born	April 1, 1961​ Hammond, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana​
Nationality	American​
Political party	Republican​
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Pugh​
Children	Stephen and Christopher Pugh​
Residence	Ponchatoula, Tangipahoa Parish​
Alma mater	Southeastern Louisiana University ​ Accredited Asset Management Specialist College of Financial Planning​
Occupation	Businessman​
Religion	Roman Catholic​

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Stephen E. Pugh, known as Steve Pugh (born April 1, 1961), is a businessman and financial advisor from Ponchatoula, Louisiana, who is a Republican former state representative for District 73 in Tangipahoa Parish.​ ​

Background

Pugh is a native of Hammond in Tangipahoa Parish. In 1979, he briefly attended Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. In 2000, he graduated as an Accredited Asset Management Specialist (AAMS) from the College of Financial Planning. From 1978 to 1999, Pugh operated a floral shop. From 1981 to 1984, Pugh chaired the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival. He is a Roman Catholic. His wife is Elizabeth Pugh, and the couple has two sons, Stephen and Christopher.​

Political life

With no previous political experience except a competitive but losing campaign for the District 73 seat in 1991, Pugh faced then-incumbent Democrat, Dennis Paul Hebert, in a general election, won by Hebert with 53 percent of the ballots cast. It was Hebert's last successful race Pugh was elected to the state House in 2007 for the seat vacated by the term-limited Republican Henry "Tank" Powel, an insurance agent in Ponchatoula. Pugh led in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, having polled 6,108 votes (43.7 percent). He was scheduled to enter a runoff election with fellow Republican Michelle Aycock, who received 3,327 votes (23.8 percent). A third Republican, Tony Licciardi, and a Democrat, Scott Ploof, trailed with 2,971 and 1,566 votes, respectively. Aycock, however, decided not to contest a runoff election, and Pugh hence won the seat without opposition in the general election.

Pugh is an advocate for the elderly and the deaf and hard-of-hearing. He was the legislative point man of the free captioned telephone and telecommunications relay services provided by Hamilton Relay in District 73 and later throughout the state.​

In the face of a large state budget shortfall in 2011, Pugh addressed the Southeastern faculty senate and opposed cuts in higher education and health. Instead, he urged his colleagues and then Governor Bobby Jindal, a fellow Republican, to work with then state Treasurer John Neely Kennedy, who had submitted a 16-point plan for trimming the budget and identifying more efficient methods of operations. ​In 2017, Kennedy became the state's junior member of the United States Senate.

In his first term, Pugh served on the committees of (1) Commerce, (2) House and Governmental Affairs, and (3) Municipal, Parochial, and Cultural Affairs. In the 2011 legislative session, Pugh supported a successful House measure to provide for random drug screening of recipients of the public welfare, but the measure died in the state senate. Pugh, meanwhile, opposed the establishment of a commission to determine how the state might gradually abolish its state income tax.

Pugh was handily reelected in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 2011. He defeated fellow Republican David P. Englade, 7,464 (81.1 percent) to 1,740 (18.9 percent).<refLouisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 22, 2011.</ref> Pugh had a much closer contest in his 2015 reelection. In the primary held on October 24, he defeated fellow Republican Tim Bailey, 5,341 (51.6 percent) to 5,003 (48.4 percent).

References

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