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Take Five With Rep. Marcia Fudge

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Every week, HOH gets to know a Member of Congress better through a series of five fun questions. This week, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) talks about those first-place Cleveland Indians and her favorite dinner spot back home.


Q: You were the mayor of Warrensville Heights for eight years before coming to Congress in 2008. What was the biggest adjustment in making the transition from chief executive to federal lawmaker?

A: The toughest thing really is to understand that you don’t set the agenda if you work someone else’s time frame or their schedule. I was mayor for almost nine years. You get yourself to a posture where you do determine the direction you want the city to go and you guide all the other players in that direction. Here, you more follow than you lead.


Q: Outside of public service, what’s your dream job?

A: Teaching. I’d love to be a teacher. I still have every intention of doing that. I’d like to teach college. I think it’s important to teach young people, especially at the freshman level, the importance of truly having a well-rounded education and not just book learning but how they survive in this world.


Q: Where’s the one place you have to dine when you’re back home in your district?

A: Frederick’s [Wine and Dine]. The food is great, very reasonably priced, and it’s a family-type atmosphere. It’s a lot of fun.


Q: It’s only May, but the Cleveland Indians are in first place. Who’s your favorite player on this year’s team?

A: The word you said is “team,” and I think that all them together really have created this energy around the team. Although I would suggest to you if I had to select somebody, I would probably select Carlos Santana, the catcher.


Q: If you could choose one politician, living or deceased, to have a conversation with, who would it be and why?

A: It would be [the late Texas Democratic Rep.] Barbara Jordan. I had the opportunity to meet her when I was very, very young and I followed her career. I thought that she was not only brilliant but articulate and had a knowledge of politics and the Constitution as well as a real grasp of how to understand her people. That always made me wish I had known her better and gotten the benefit of her knowledge and experience.

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