After serving 50 years in government, Marcia Fudge stepped down as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to spend time with family. But now she has something new on her plate.
By Deborah Barfield Berry
Special to Black Women Unmuted and FierceforBlackWomen.com
WASHINGTON — Early this year, sitting alone in her place near the U.S. Capitol, Marcia Fudge decided it was time to resign as head of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Fudge had just spent Christmas in Ohio with her family, including her elderly mother. She was in her usual role hosting the holiday dinner complete with turkey, sweet potatoes and dressing.
It bothered her that her job as housing secretary for President Joe Biden had kept her on the road too much, had made her miss too many other family events back home. This was on top of more than 50 years that Fudge had spent serving as a mayor, a congressional staffer and, for more than a decade, a member of Congress.
She was tired.
“When you work and you care about the people you represent you do get tired because you just give it everything you’ve got,’’ Fudge told USA Today in March. “You never take a day off because there’s always somebody who needs something.”
Mere months later, Fudge is back on the national scene as campaign co-chair for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. Her responsibilities include strategy and outreach.
Fudge, who had endorsed then-Sen. Harris’ presidential bid in 2020, said she was happy to step in as co-chair for this campaign.
“I’m all in 24/7 until Nov. 5,’’ Fudge said. “Whatever it takes is what I will do. I mean there’s no job too big, no job too small. Whatever is needed of me, I will do it. I am 100% committed to this and I know that if all of us do the same thing we will win in November. I really feel very strongly about that.”
Wendy Smooth, a professor of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies and Political Science at The Ohio State University, said she’s not surprised Fudge is still involved with politics. She heard Fudge speak recently and expects Fudge to do well as co-chair of the Harris campaign, especially with her experience as a strategist.
“Fudge certainly has been in the game for quite a long while and has seen a lot in terms of party politics. It’s hard to step away from that,’’ Smooth said. “She is as fiery and as undeniably convicted as she ever has been. She sees that as an opportunity to continue to contribute to national Democratic Party politics, and she’s going to use that accumulated influence to make a difference.’’
Fudge is only the second Black woman to serve as HUD secretary. She walked out of agency headquarters March 22 to a cheering crowd of workers lining the halls.
Her departure left two Black women in Biden’s Cabinet: Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Fudge, 71, took on the role three years ago, leading the agency through a global pandemic, budget cuts and the threat of massive evictions. She had traveled the country often over the years, pressing the case for more affordable housing and programs to address homelessness.
“I just feel so good about what we’ve done,” Fudge said. ‘’When you’re in these kinds of roles, you go out when you’re on top and I believe that’s where we are.’’
After leaving her Cabinet post, Fudge joined the Cincinnati, Ohio-based firm of Taft Stettinius & Hollister as a partner and chief of public policy. She divides her time between Washington and her home base in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, outside Cleveland.
“We’re definitely happy to have her home,’’ said Jeané Holley, a cousin, who describes Fudge as more like an aunt. It’s an “opportunity for her to now come home, relax, enjoy these next few years just doing what she wants to do for herself and just being there for her mom.’’
Former Housing Secretary Marcia Fudge (second from right) poses with family members at an event hosted by her successor in Congress, Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio (center). Fudge stepped down from President Joe Biden’s Cabinet in March and now serves as campaign co-chair for the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. (Photo courtesy of Jeané Holley)
‘We Turned the Corner’
Fudge said it was a difficult decision to resign three years into her stint as HUD secretary. Her sense of loyalty made it hard to leave the work unfinished. But she was confident in her leadership team.
“We’ve turned the corner,’’ Fudge said. “We’re doing the work that this agency should have been doing all along.”
Fudge said her mother, Marian Garth Saffold, who turned 93 in April, was a major reason she wanted to return to Ohio. “My family is extremely important to me and so I’m going to spend more time there,’’ she said.
She said she looked forward to some favorite activities like playing cards (bid whist) and cooking on the grill at her house in Warrensville Heights, where she was once mayor.
She was the first woman and first Black person elected mayor of the city, not far from Cleveland. She kept her house there even when she served in the U.S. House representing Ohio’s 11th Congressional district. She had planned to return one day.
U.S. Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, a Democrat and close friend, praised Fudge for leaving her high-profile post to spend more time with her family.
“She made the decision that family is first,’’ Clyburn said. “That’s the kind of person she is.’’
Marcia Fudge, center, poses with family members after celebrating her 70th birthday at home in Ohio. (Photo courtesy of Jeané Holley)
‘She Always Came Home for the Holidays’
Fudge is from a small close knit family. Every holiday a family member prepares the feast. Fudge has Christmas and Mother’s Day.
At a recent Mother’s Day gathering, Fudge grilled steaks and served corn, potatoes, broccoli and desserts, including a family friend’s pound cake.
“She always came home for the holidays,’’ Holley said. “That was important for her to be able to still come home and spend that time.”
Even members of Fudge’s Secret Service detail would join the holiday gatherings.
“I told her, ‘I know when you resigned … they were not too happy because they’re going to miss out on these family meals and family gatherings,’” Holley said.
“They were there with us hanging out. I never felt safer.’’
Long before her role at HUD, Fudge’s family often hit the streets to help her campaign.
“When she wasn’t in Congress, it was kind of bittersweet for us because we always looked forward to helping her campaign and get out in the community and pass out literature and just try to make sure that she was getting those votes,’’ Holley recalled.
Family members also stumped for Fudge when in 1996 she successfully ran for national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Ahead of her public announcement in March, Fudge shared news of her retirement in the family group chat. Holley, who is 43 and has only known Fudge as a public figure, said it was emotional to read articles about Fudge’s impact and to see a billboard in Warrensville Heights thanking her for her service.
“We just look at her as Marcia,’’ Holley said. “It was like wow. You know who she is, but you didn’t realize the impact that she was having on so many people.”
A Champion for Voting Rights
Fudge was elected eight times to Congress where she also served as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, a powerful bloc of mostly Democrats.
She left the House in 2021 to become HUD secretary. She’s most proud of the agency’s efforts to help victims of Hurricane Katrina and young people transitioning out of foster care with housing.
She has long championed housing and food security issues, calling out Republican and Democratic colleagues who didn’t do their part to help. In the House, she had an unofficial seat on the chamber floor where she often strategized with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Fudge once threatened to challenge California Rep. Nancy Pelosi for the House speaker’s seat. It would have been an uphill battle, but as the former chair of the powerful Congressional Black Caucus experts said she would have garnered much support. She eventually backed off and instead was offered the chair of an election subcommittee.
In that role, she pushed to protect voting rights, holding field hearings across the country in 2019. The panel released a report highlighting efforts to restrict access to voting.
“It doesn’t reflect well on this country that people have no confidence in our electoral system,’’ Fudge said then in an interview with USA Today. “Everybody knows something needs to be done on both sides.”
A billboard paying tribute to Marcia Fudge stands in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, where she once served as mayor. (Photo courtesy of Jeané Holley)
‘She Always Speaks Truth to Power’
Fudge’s former Democratic colleagues described her as a leader in Congress, saying she took those skills to HUD where she championed programs to help low-income workers and people of color.
California Rep. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, praised Fudge for visiting Los Angeles County, California, several times as HUD secretary to call attention to the high rate of homelessness there.
“She is going to be missed,’’ said Waters, who has invited Fudge to testify at hearings. “HUD is the kind of agency that it takes someone like a Marcia, who truly is committed to people who need the most help.’’
Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty called Fudge a great strategist who used her expertise in public policy and law to advocate for issues.
“She has been probably one of the biggest changemakers when we think about public policy, especially in housing and caring for children and families,’’ said Beatty, who recalled how Fudge mentored her when she came to Congress in 2013. “She’s a person that people get excited about when she walks in the room and someone that people follow.’’
“She always speaks truth to power and always stands up for the people,’’ Beatty added.
Clyburn had initially pushed for Fudge to be Agriculture Secretary because he said she was an accomplished lawyer, a former mayor and a member of the House Agriculture Committee. He called it a natural fit.
“But as a (former) mayor, she also had credentials for HUD,’’ Clyburn said.
Instead, Biden nominated Tom Vilsack to head the Agriculture Department.
Clyburn encouraged tapping Fudge to stump for the Democratic ticket in places like Georgia, North Carolina and, of course, Ohio.
“She will be, I think, much more valuable to the re-elect in this capacity than she is as HUD secretary,’’ Clyburn said, noting there is also a key Senate race in Ohio. “Nobody’s giving up on Ohio.”
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, said it will “absolutely’’ help to have Fudge campaign for his re-election bid.
“She is well known particularly in greater Cleveland and people listen to her,’’ he said.
In between campaign stops, she’ll return to Ohio.
“I am so blessed that sometimes it brings me to tears,’’ said Fudge, whose faith is a central part of her life. ‘’I know that I have been given so much, so many opportunities that people I know can’t even imagine.’’
