Pam Keith is a former Navy judge advocate who recently won her democratic primary for Florida’s 18th district with a shocking 80% of the vote. The result was shocking mainly because of how late Keith entered the race – she only decided to run this spring, as Florida was hit harder than most with the COVID pandemic.

Keith grew up moving around the world with her father’s work, a former Navy officer and US diplomat. After law school, she followed in her father’s footsteps and joined the US Navy as first a Defense Counsel, then Judge Advocate. Growing up around the world, Keith says, gave her a great appreciation for America, and her American identity. She also acknowledges that once her family returned to the US, she understood, for the first time, that she was African American and that identity came with its own discrimination and challenges. That realization gave her the energy and passion to work towards equality and justice.

Keith ran for office twice before, but never with the kind of support or backing from the larger Democratic party base. She ran for Senate in 2016 and for the same seat she is currently running for in 2018. With both races, she was outraised by her opponents and had little to no name-recognition. This year, as well, she has had considerably less funding than her democratic challengers.

If elected, Keith is committed to guaranteeing affordable and equal health care, guaranteeing social security and Medicare for seniors, and upgrading public education within Florida, and throughout the country. As a veteran herself, she also had laid out plans to protect our veterans both financially and medically.