The Conservative Case Against Alethea Pugh

House District 48 already has a proven conservative working for it in Tallahassee. Rep. Jon Albert is a Marine Corps veteran, a former mayor of Frostproof and the Republican nominee for Florida House District 48. On Tuesday, November 3, Polk County voters should send him back to Tallahassee.

His opponent, Democrat Alethea Pugh, is asking for a vote on Florida's $117.6 billion state budget. Before voters give her that trust, they should look at what she did the last time she was trusted with other people's money.

Her record is not a matter of political disagreement. It is a paper trail: a sworn police affidavit, a guilty plea to grand theft, months in the Polk County Jail, a town appointment made without checking her references, and repeated rejection by the voters who know her best.

The booster club theft and jail time

In November 2010, Alethea Pugh became president of the Haines City High School Athletics Booster Club. According to the sworn police affidavit, the club's money paid for sporting activities at Haines City High: banquets, room and board for away events, and uniforms.

Over the next seven months, about $11,500 left the club's checking account in cash withdrawals. Haines City police said bank statements, withdrawal receipts and bank tellers identified Pugh as the person who took the cash. When club members asked her about the missing money at a meeting in May 2011, she changed the subject.

Pugh told investigators she withdrew the cash at the treasurer's request because the club had no checks. The club's own account ledger showed she had signed checks to vendors on the same day as several of those withdrawals. Investigators wrote that this "cast doubt on her statement" and that "there was no proof offered" that she ever gave the cash back.

The boosters removed her as president in May 2011. On July 28, 2011, police arrested Pugh and charged her with grand theft.

On June 15, 2012, Pugh pleaded guilty to grand theft for stealing $11,000 from the booster club, money raised to support student athletes. Her plea deal gave her a simple choice. She could pay the $11,000 back by her June 29 sentencing hearing and serve 30 days in a weekend work-release program, or she could serve six months in jail.

She did not pay. On June 29, 2012, Circuit Judge Beth Harlan sent her to jail.

Polk County Sheriff's Office jail records show Pugh was booked into the county jail on June 29, 2012, and released on November 14, 2012. That is nearly four and a half months behind bars.

Her plea deal also put her on five years of probation. The court barred her from holding any position that handles money and allowed her only one checking account, subject to inspection.

Read that again. A court decided Alethea Pugh could not be trusted to handle money. Now she wants a vote on how Florida spends $117.6 billion.

The Dundee appointment without a reference check

On December 10, 2024, the Dundee Town Commission voted 3-1 to appoint Pugh to an open seat. She did not have to win a single vote from the public to get it.

Commissioner Mary Richardson cast the only no vote. She later told The Ledger that her colleagues had appointed Pugh without conducting a background check. "None of the candidate's references were checked," Richardson said.

In January 2025, Dundee resident Jill Kitto hand-delivered a letter to the mayor and commissioners. She attached The Ledger's 2012 story about the booster club theft. "Stealing from a children's athletic booster club is unacceptable," she wrote.

When The Ledger called Pugh about the criminal case, she declined to comment.

Voters keep saying no

In April 2010, Pugh ran for the Haines City City Commission against Commissioner Horace West. She lost.

On April 1, 2025, she asked Dundee voters to keep her in the seat she had been handed. They said no. Annette Wilson beat her with 61.6% of the vote, 324 votes to 202. Pugh's time in the appointed seat lasted about four months.

On April 7, 2026, she ran again, this time for Dundee Town Commission Seat 3. She lost again. Ray Hunt beat her 368 to 322, a margin of 46 votes.

Haines City in 2010. Dundee in 2025. Dundee again in 2026. The voters who know her best keep turning her down. Seven weeks after her latest loss, she filed to run for the Florida House.

Late on her very first campaign report

Pugh is serving as her own campaign treasurer. Her first campaign finance report was due to the Florida Division of Elections on June 10, 2026. She filed it on June 17, a week late, and the state automatically assessed a $62.50 late fine.

The Division sent her a fine letter on June 26 and a final notice on August 5. Pugh then asked the Florida Elections Commission to waive the fine, writing that she "inadvertently failed to save or properly submit the report."

It is a small fine, but it was her first test as a candidate for state office. If a candidate cannot file her own campaign report on time, she is not ready to help oversee state agencies and a $117.6 billion budget.

The choice in House District 48

House District 48 covers southeast Polk County, including Winter Haven, Lake Wales, Frostproof, Dundee and Lake Hamilton. It deserves a representative who respects taxpayers, upholds the rule of law and has real experience serving the public.

The Republican nominee, Jon Albert, is a proven conservative leader, a Marine Corps veteran, a former mayor of Frostproof and the district's current state representative.

Alethea Pugh pleaded guilty to grand theft of booster club money meant for student athletes. She went to jail when she did not pay it back. A court barred her from handling money. Local voters have turned her down again and again.

The contrast could not be clearer.

Vote early from Monday, October 19 through Saturday, October 31, at any of Polk County's early voting sites, or vote on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Vote for integrity, accountability and conservative leadership:

Vote Jon Albert for Florida House of Representatives, District 48.

Want to help keep District 48 in good hands? Volunteer today at polk.gop/volunteer.

Sources

• Alethea Pugh allegedly made cash withdrawals totaling $11,500, The Ledger (July 29, 2011)
• Alethea Pugh accepts plea deal in high school booster club fund theft, The Ledger (June 15, 2012)
• Pugh jailed for not repaying Haines City High School athletics booster club, The Ledger (June 29, 2012)
• Polk County Sheriff's Office Jail Inquiry (Bookings 2011-017782 and 2012-016578)
• Dundee appointed its newest commissioner without a background check, The Ledger (January 24, 2025)
• Polk County Supervisor of Elections, Official Results, April 1, 2025 Municipal Elections
• Polk County Supervisor of Elections, Official Results, April 7, 2026 Municipal Elections
• Florida Division of Elections Campaign Documents, Alethea Pugh (Account 90897)
• Florida Division of Elections Candidate Listing, Alethea Pugh (Account 90897)
• Governor DeSantis signs Fiscal Year 2026-2027 budget, Executive Office of the Governor
• Florida House Plan H000H8013 (official 2022-2032 House districts)
• Jon Albert, Polk GOP candidate profile
• Polk County Supervisor of Elections Upcoming Elections

Paid political advertisement paid for by the Polk County Republican Executive Committee, 6039 Cypress Gardens Blvd; Box 108, Winter Haven, FL 33884. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.