Keith Seeks Inclusion in Select Group of Black Vets in Congress

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Pam Keith is seeking to make history in Florida by becoming one of the few Black female veterans to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Keith is the leading Democrat for Florida’s 18th congressional district. She will face Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), a freshman, in next year’s general election and she told the AFRO she is up to the task of being a successful candidate and a member of Congress.

Pam Keith is running for the House in Florida’s 18th congressional district. (Courtesy photo)

“I am running for Congress because I believe in the saying ‘to whom much is given, much is required’,” Keith said. “I have been a lifetime advocate with training in the Navy and as a lawyer. I am prepared to be an advocate and there is a need for an advocate in Washington, D.C.”

Keith, whose father served in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Foreign Service, lived in Turkey, Morocco, and Syria as a child before moving back to the United States with her family. She received her bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and communications in 1990 and a master’s in that field in 1992 and earned a juris doctorate from Boston College School of Law in 1995.

Keith served as a judge’s advocate for the U.S. Navy from 1995-1999 and worked with District of Columbia law firms Morgan Lewis from 2000-2002, Jones Day 2002-2007 and was a counsel to Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart from 2007-2011 and from 2011-2014 was senior counsel for Florida Power & Light Co./NextEra Energy.

The southeastern Florida district Keith seeks to represents stretches from Fort Pierce to Palm Beach and contains all of St. Lucie and Martin counties as well as the northeastern part of Palm Beach County. The district is 81 percent White and 12 percent Black.

Keith was a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat in 2016 but lost the Democratic nomination. She supports Obamacare, a woman’s right to choose, comprehensive immigration reform, public education, and good services for veterans. She is a proud patriot, championing American diplomacy and global leadership and is pro-Israel and embraces the peace process for that troubled region of the world.

Holding President Donald J. Trump accountable will be a priority and she doesn’t have a problem with voting for his impeachment, she said. “I have a better skills set than Rep. Mast,” she said. “He takes his cues from his party’s leadership and he doesn’t stand up to the GOP and Donald Trump. As a member of Congress, I will lead and if necessary challenge elements of my own party.”

In response, Mast’s office sent a statement to the AFRO, saying: “Congressman Mast’s focus is on working to serve the people in our community, including hurricane recovery efforts and preventing harmful algal blooms, not on partisan politics and elections that are over a year away.”

Keith notes that her race against Mast should be interesting, in that “it will be veteran versus veteran.” Mast is a veteran of the U.S. Army.

While most political experts think the House will stay in Republican hands in 2019, there are whispers of Democrats taking it back because of the unpopularity of Trump. Keith said she will be able to be effective no matter which party is in control of the House. “I will be able to work with a GOP-led House,” she said. “Every vote that is taken drives a national conversation and while the Democrats may not control the House they will control the conversation.”

Keith said she will join the Congressional Black Caucus if elected. If Keith is elected and all members of Congress are re-elected, she will be the 50th member of the CBC and the fifth African American in the Florida delegation, the most of any state.

“I would like to see the CBC set up a candidate’s academy for people who want to run for public office,” she said. “We can recruit people from universities such as Harvard, Howard, Florida A&M University, Stanford, and Spelman who are interested in politics. We need to train and fund people for public service and teach people how to run for office.”

Keith said the CBC should deliberately try to increase its numbers as a part of its growth strategy. She also said that Black organizations such as the HBCU alumni associations should get more involved in the political process and engage aggressively in fundraising activities.