Catherine Pugh Plans To Make Streets Safer, 'Grow Baltimore Together'

BALTIMORE (WZJ)—After a very tight race to be Baltimore's next mayor, Democratic candidate Catherine Pugh is one step closer after defeating nearly a dozen other candidates last night to secure the nomination.

Meghan McCorkell has more

Just hours after winning the nomination Catherine Pugh sits down with WJZ.

"Everything I've done to this point has prepared me for this moment to be the next mayor of Baltimore," says Pugh.

It was just one year ago the State senator took to the streets in west Baltimore to try and calm tension in the wake of Freddie Gray's death.

But is the city any different from one year ago?

"I don't know that visually you can see the difference, but I think emotionally you can feel the difference," Pugh says.

It's change that she hopes will continue if she wins the mayor's race.

Pugh says making the streets safer here in Baltimore is one of her top priorities.

"Not safer just for us, but safer for the police as well because when they leave home every day, some of them don't know if they're coming back," she says.

Her other focus is on improving education and putting Baltimore back to work.

"We do have 77,000 people in this city unemployed. We must get people in this city working," says Pugh.

She says she's looking forward to getting to work herself.

"If anyone were to ever ask me what's my dream job this is it, this is what I want to do," says Pugh.

She has just one more hurdle to cross: the General Election coming up this November where she'll face Republican candidate Alan Walden.