A few days after he was handpicked to run for the vacant 190th state District seat, West Philly native Darryl Thomas has withdrawn from the race following a Philadelphia Inquirer article questioning his place of residence and voting record.

Within 48 hours, Movita Johnson-Harrell, who runs the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Victims Services office, was unofficially named the new Democratic nominee for the special election on March 12. She announced the nomination on her social media late Sunday.  Continue Reading

UPDATE (Monday, Jan. 28, 2019): Darryl Thomas stepped down over the weekend. Democratic leaders appointed Movita Johnson-Harrell as the nominee for the March 12 special election.

Democratic ward leaders have selected Darryl Thomas, a Howard University graduate and the owner of Philly Cuts barbershop on Chestnut near 44th, to stand in a special election in March to fill the 190th state House District seat left vacant when former Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown resigned in December.

Thomas has long been vocal on community issues, including zoning, and ran in the Democratic primary for the seat in 2016, losing to Brown.

“I’m not a politician, even though I’m running for office. I’m a social activist,” Thomas, a West Philly native, told West Philly Local during the campaign. Continue Reading

We won’t know the official results for more than a week, but it looks like a couple of upsets are brewing following Tuesday’s primary election.

It looks like Amen Brown will be the Democratic candidate in November for the State House of Representatives 190th District. Several news outlets have already projected Brown to win the seat. He had about 49 percent of the votes as of Wednesday. G. Roni Green, who won the seat in a special election earlier year, stood in second place with 29 percent.

The results won’t be final until mail-in ballots are counted, which could take several days, according to election officials.  Continue Reading

Pennsylvania’s primary election is just over two weeks away. Here are a few things to know.

Originally scheduled for April 28, the election was pushed to June 2 and now includes a mail-in ballot option. Polls will likely be open on June 2, but counties across the state have been given the authority to consolidate polling locations, so your usual place may not be open.

The registration deadline has been bumped up to May 18. You can register here and can check your registration status here.  Continue Reading