Fudge, Marcia L. (Marcia Louise), 1952-

<p>Political leader Marcia L. Fudge was born on October 29, 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio to Marian Saffold. She graduated from Shaker Heights High School in 1971, and went on to obtain her B.S. degree in business administration from The Ohio State University in Columbus in 1975. Fudge later received her J.D. degree from Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1980.</p>

<p>After completing her J.D. degree, Fudge worked as a law clerk and then as director of the personal property tax department in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Later, she served as the deputy county auditor for the county’s estate tax department and the director of the Cuyahoga County Budget Commission. In 1988, Fudge worked as the director of budget and finance for the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office. Then, in 1999, she entered politics as the chief of staff for U.S. Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, where she worked for a year before running and winning the race for mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio. Following the untimely death of Jones in 2008, Fudge became the U.S. Representative for the 11th District of Ohio. She won re-election for her seat in the subsequent elections of 2010 and 2012. In 2013, Fudge became chair of the Congressional Black Caucus for the 113th Congress and founded the Rock and Roll Caucus. In 2016, she was selected to fill the position as chair of the Democratic National Convention after the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz.</p>

<p>Fudge served on the board of Cleveland Public Library for over twenty years and was elected vice president in 1986. In 1988, she was elected as the national treasurer of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Four years later, Fudge became the first vice president of the sorority and completed her tenure as national president in 1996. She subsequently joined the boards of Alcoa Aluminum and Judge Lloyd O. Brown Scholarship Committee. In 2003, Fudge was named a hall of fame alumna at the eighteenth annual Shaker Heights Alumni Association hall of fame ceremony. Fudge was featured in Who’s Who in Black Cleveland in 2004 and 2005. The same year, she received the Trailblazer of the Year Award from the Norman S. Minor Bar Association. In 2007, Fudge received the Patricia Roberts Harris Medallion Award for excellence in government service and was named Municipal Leader of the Year by the Northeast Ohio Municipal Leader magazine.</p>

FUDGE, Marcia L., a Representative from Ohio; born in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, October 29, 1952; graduated from Shaker Heights High School, Shaker Heights, Ohio, 1971; B.S., Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1975; J.D., Cleveland Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, 1983; lawyer, private practice; director, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, prosecutor’s office; director, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, budget commission; director, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, personal property tax department; staff, United States Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio, 1999-2000; mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, 2000-2008; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Tenth Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones, and reelected to the seven succeeding Congresses (November 18, 2008-present).

<p>Marcia Louise Fudge (born October 29, 1952) is an American attorney and politician who has been the Senate-confirmed nominee for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development since March 2021. She served as the U.S. Representative for Ohio's 11th congressional district from 2008 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she won the 2008 special election uncontested, succeeding Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who died in office. Fudge was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus in the 113th Congress. President Joe Biden nominated Fudge as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. On February 4, 2021, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs advanced her nomination by a vote of 17-7, and confirmed by the entire United States Senate on March 10, 2021.</p>

<p>Fudge was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 29, 1952. A 1971 graduate of Shaker Heights High School, she earned her Bachelor of Science in business from Ohio State University in 1975. In 1983, she earned a Juris Doctor from Cleveland State University Cleveland–Marshall College of Law.</p>

<p>After college, she worked as a law clerk and studied legal research. She also worked in the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office as Director of Budget and Finance. Fudge has also worked as an auditor for the county's estate tax department and has occasionally served as a visiting judge and as a chief referee for arbitration.</p>

<p>Fudge was the mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, from 2000 to November 18, 2008. Her 1999 campaign was her first run for any elected office. She was the town's first female and first African American mayor.</p>

<p>Fudge served as chief of staff to U.S. Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones during Jones's first term in Congress. She has also served on the board of trustees for the Cleveland Public Library.</p>

<p>After Stephanie Tubbs Jones's death on August 20, 2008, a committee of local Democratic leaders selected Fudge as her replacement on the November ballot. This virtually assured her election in the heavily Democratic, black-majority district. Fudge won the November 4 general election, defeating Republican Thomas Pekarek with 85% of the vote. She was unopposed in a November 18 special election for the balance of Jones's fifth term, and won with less than 9,000 votes cast. She was sworn in on November 19, 2008, giving her almost two months' more seniority than the rest of the 2008 House freshman class.</p>

<p>On December 10, 2020, President Biden announced his plan to nominate Fudge for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. She appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on January 28, 2021. On February 4, committee chairman Sherrod Brown advanced her nomination after a 17-7 vote in favor.</p>

<p>On March 10, 2021, Fudge was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 66-34.</p>