Dwight Evans (politician)

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Evans was first elected to office in 1980. The district, which encompasses West Oak Lane in Philadelphia, was heavily Democratic with a 95% African-American population.^[1] As a result, he had minimal GOP opposition in winning re-election to his seat.

Evans was elected as the Democratic Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee in 1990 ^[2] and served in that capacity until November 2010.

In 2010, the Philadelphia Tribune named Evans one of the 10 most influential African-Americans in the city.^[3]

Unsuccessful elections

Evans speaking during his 2007 mayoral campaign

Prior to his election to Congress, Evans ran for higher office four times unsuccessfully. In 1986, he sought the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor but finished third in the primary election to future Lieutenant Governor Mark Singel.^[4]

In 1994, Evans became the first African American candidate to seek the office of Governor of Pennsylvania. In the Democratic primary election, Evans faced off with Lynn Yeakel and Lt. Governor Singel. He won endorsements from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. This time, Evans finished second in the primary with 22%.^[5]

Evans made two runs for Mayor of Philadelphia. In 1999, in the race to succeed Ed Rendell, Evans finished fifth with 4.7% of the vote in a crowded primary won by John Street.^[6] In 2007, despite comments by Governor Rendell that Evans was the "best qualified" for mayor,^[7] he finished fifth again taking only 7.82% of the vote.^[8]

Elections

2016 special election

Evans being sworn in by Speaker Paul Ryan

In November 2015, Evans announced that he would run for Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district in 2016 against Democratic incumbent Chaka Fattah.^[9] In an upset, Evans beat Fattah for the Democratic nomination–the real contest in this heavily Democratic, black-majority district–on April 26, 2016. He won mainly by running up his margins in his Olney-Oak Lane stronghold. Fattah later resigned amid a corruption scandal.^[10]

As a result, Evans ran in two elections on November 8, 2016–a special election for the balance of Fattah's sixth term, and a regular election for a full two-year term. Evans won both elections and was sworn in on Monday, November 14, 2016. This led to Evans having more seniority than other new members who won the 2016 congressional election.^[11]

Tenure

In August 2017, following the aftermath of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Evans and New York Representative Adriano Espaillat introduced legislation banning Confederate monuments on federal property.^[12]

He is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus^[13] and the Congressional Black Caucus.^[14]

Issues

Crime

In September 2018, Evans voted against HR 6691, the Community Safety and Security Act of 2018. The bill would amends the definition of "crime of violence". Within the definition of "crime of violence" is fleeing a police officer in a vehicle or on foot.^[15]

Environment

On September 24, 2018, Evans was rated 100% by the Clean Water Action group.^[16]