February 21, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
State House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh is in the race to become the next Governor of Tennessee.
The twelve term member of the Tennessee General Assembly from Ripley represents the 82nd legislative district including the counties of Crockett, Haywood, and Lauderdale. He spoke Saturday at the DeKalb County Democratic Party Mass Meeting.
Fitzhugh said the three main issues in this campaign are education, health care, and jobs for Tennesseans.
“I’m forgiving everybody the opportunity to have the American dream. What is that American dream? The ability to take care of your family. The ability to give them food, clothing, and shelter. The ability to educate them. The number one issue is education. It is the reason state government exists. There is a provision in our state constitution that says the state of Tennessee must provide a program of free public education. And it doesn’t start in college. It starts in early childhood education. Everybody also needs a high school degree and then training after that. Does that mean a four year or two year degree? Maybe, maybe not. But it means at least some technical training so we can get those better jobs,” said Fitzhugh.
“The most pressing issue is health care. It is a big issue nationally and there are some things we can do at the state level that we haven’t done. The biggest moral failure the legislature has done in the 24 years I have been there is the failure to expand Medicaid. It makes such a big difference. We have forfeited over $4 billion in your tax money that we didn’t take here that is going to other states. The hospital I was born in at Brownsville closed two years ago. It would not have closed if we had expanded Medicaid. Rural hospitals are going to keep closing. Medicaid would have also helped in the opioid crisis,” Fitzhugh continued.
“The third issue is jobs. The Governor says we have the lowest unemployment we’ve had in years. That is right. But we have more people in this state percentage wise working for minimum wage than any other state in the country. What we need is better training for better jobs. And if we can put Broadband in rural areas it will change the way we live. We have got to get it done. The Governor has put money in it but not much,” added Fitzhugh.
Craig graduated from Ripley High School in 1968, where he played varsity baseball, football, and basketball on some of the earliest integrated sports teams. A graduate of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and the UT College of Law, where in 2010 he was a finalist for its Presidency. 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. In 1992, Craig joined the Bank of Ripley, where he currently serves as Chairman and CEO. There he created a bank grant program providing more than $300,000 to supplement classroom resources for local public school teachers.
Craig 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. Craig is a strong advocate for public schools, improved health care especially in rural areas, and economic development throughout the state.
Craig has been married for over 40 years. Pam Fitzhugh is a Lauderdale County native who also attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Pam is a retired consultant for hearing-impaired children with the Lauderdale County School System. She previously worked in this capacity for the Dyer County School System.
Pam and Craig have two married children: Elizabeth Molder is a former first grade teacher and her husband Chaz Molder is an attorney in private practice in Columbia; Tom lives in Memphis and works at the Bank of Ripley/Bank of Tipton and his wife, Windy, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at St. Jude. They have four grandchildren: Marley, Hugh, BeBe and Ollie.
Craig is a fourth generation member of First Baptist Church, Ripley. He serves there as a Deacon and Chairman of the Trustees.