Craigh Fitzhugh
Craig Fitzhugh, a Democratic candidate for Tennessee governor, is visiting Oak Ridge this evening.
Fitzhugh will have a meet and greet from 7 to 8 p.m. today (Tuesday, August 29) at Razzleberry’s Ice Cream Lab and Café at 223 Jackson Square in Oak Ridge. The event is being sponsored by the Anderson County Democratic Party, a press release said. The public is invited.
“‘People Matter,’ the campaign slogan of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Craig Fitzhugh, ties together the very essence of why he has thrown his hat into the race for governor in 2018,” the press release said. “It connects voter concerns from across the state.”
When asked why he chose “People Matter” as his slogan, Fitzhugh said he’s concerned Tennessee is falling behind, citing education, jobs, infrastructure, and health care, particularly the expansion of Medicaid as top issues, the press release said.
“The problems and the situations that people in North Nashville and south Memphis find themselves in are not much different than those in Ripley, or Columbia or Etowah, or other communities,” Fitzhugh said. “There are things that we can do to give people an opportunity to better their lives.”
Fitzhugh has represented the people of Tennessee’s 82nd legislative district in the Tennessee House of Representatives since 1994, chosen by his colleagues to serve as House minority leader. He is a strong advocate for public schools, improved health care especially in rural areas, and economic development throughout the state, the press release said. House District 82 includes three West Tennessee counties north of Memphis.
Fitzhugh was born in Brownsville, Tennessee, and raised in nearby Ripley, where he lives and works to this day. After graduating from the University of Tennessee and the University of Tennessee College of Law, he served four years active duty in the Air Force as a captain in the Judge’s Advocate General (JAG) Corps. He returned to Ripley to practice law, the press release said. He has been married to his wife Pam Fitzhugh for 43 years, and together they have two children and four grandchildren.
In 1992, Fitzhugh joined the Bank of Ripley, where he currently serves as chairman and chief executive officer. He created a bank grant program providing more than $300,000 to supplement classroom resources for local public school teachers.
Fitzhugh is the first of several candidates for the 2018 elections invited by the Anderson County Democratic Party to address voters. Danielle Mitchell of Chattanooga, running as a Democrat in Tennessee’s Third Congressional District against incumbent U.S. Rep Chuck Fleischmann, has been invited to speak in Oak Ridge on Thursday, September 21, the press release said. More details will be provided as they become available, the release said.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
This press release was submitted by Maureen Hoyt.
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