On Tuesday, Democratic Rep. Chaka Fattah became the first House member to lose renomination this cycle. State Rep. Dwight Evans defeated Fattah 42-34, and he’ll have no trouble winning Pennsylvania’s 2nd Congressional District, a safely blue Philadelphia district, in the general election.
Last summer, Fattah was indicted on corruption charges, with prosecutors alleging, among other things, that Fattah fraudulently tried to conceal campaign debts and even tried to steer public money to pay off private debts to one of his creditors. Fattah decided to seek re-election and plenty of powerful local politicians were in his corner: If Fattah had resigned or been expelled after winning re-election, Democratic ward leaders, led by neighboring Rep. and Philadelphia Democratic Party head Bob Brady, would have chosen the party's nominee for a special election.
But Evans, a power player in northwest Philadelphia, stepped up to challenge Fattah. Evans had been an important supporter of Gov. Tom Wolf and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney during their primary campaigns, and they repaid the favor by endorsing him. Evans raised $878,000, far more than Fattah’s other two primary foes. Fattah himself barely brought in any cash, and Evans had the airwaves to himself. Evans chose not to hit Fattah’s legal woes in his ads, and that strategy seems to have paid off. Evans had lost two bids for mayor of Philadelphia (he and Fattah both unsuccessfully ran in 2007), and he finally gets his promotion. Meanwhile, Fattah’s trial is scheduled for May 16.