State Rep. James Roebuck speaking Saturday at the grand opening of the Mariposa Food Co-op as Rep Chaka Fattah (right) looks on.
State Rep. James Roebuck has fended off a challenge from Fatimah Loren Muhammad in a 188th District General Assembly race that centered on school vouchers.
With 93 percent of precincts reporting, Roebuck stands with 56 percent of the vote this morning. Muhammad, who was defined in the press by her connection to big, pro-vouchers donors, was vying to upset Roebuck, who has been in the seat since 1985. A Democratic primary victory, of course, virtually assures reelection in the fall election.
Elsewhere in the city, longtime legislator state Rep. Babette Josephs appears to have lost her 182nd (Center City and South Philadelphia) District seat to her former campaign treasurer Brian Sims, who would be the first openly gay member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The Associated Press called the race for Sims.
April 25th, 2012 at 10:07 am
Fine that Roebuck won, but now he must do something to help the many kids who are trapped in terrible schools — little more than holding tanks — in West Philadelphia. If not vouchers so that we can get our children out of these places, then what? Shame on everyone who voted for him who is not actively and knowledgeably exploring these schools and working to transform them into something fit for humans.
April 25th, 2012 at 10:19 am
Write him. Talk with him. He does respond personally to constituents.
And vouchers aren’t going to help. At best, they’re a bandaid solution that leaves the majority of students and the school district behind. They take money away from the drowning school district and give tax-payer money to private and parochial institutions.
They aren’t going to help _your_ kid. They’re going to help the people who could already afford private school tuition and just didn’t want to pay it.
April 25th, 2012 at 10:39 am
I am surprised that he won. The ground game that Muhammad put on was impressive. It was suspiciously impressive and thanks to good reporting from the West Philly Local, I learned that it was because she was receiving massive funding from people who typically fund conservatives. The difference was very apparent if you just compare printed materials put out by both campaigns. I got one postcard from Roebuck in my junk mail compared to 10 or so various flyers and postcards from Muhammad or PACs who were supporting her. Her banner at the polling place yesterday was huge and could not have been cheap. Her volunteers were all over the place. But in the end what appeared to be a very good ground game did not pull it out for her. I hope she stays in politics but I hope she learns a lesson about where she gets her money from. In the end I voted for Roebuck because I honestly did not know if Muhammad would fight Corbett’s administration or would be their puppet. Someeone needs to stand up against Corbett on the budget, voter id laws, shale gas handouts, protecting “Obama Care,” and abortion rights. That said, I am now definitely going to be paying more attention to Roebuck. I hope this online paper will cover him throughout his term as state government in this Tea Party era is as important to our lives as it is under-reported by our press.
April 25th, 2012 at 10:55 am
Ms. Muhammad’s display of well-financed force at the polls yesterday was quite formidable. Some of that good, old fashioned sleaze was also apparent at the poll where I voted. An FLM worker handed me a guide, telling me to “Vote Democrat; press 111”. I responded “OK; That’s Jim Roebuck, right?” There was a brief hesitation as I opened the door, and I heard the man say, “Yeah”. Another poll worker took a photo of me and another community member as I had breakfast outside the Gold Standard. (The community member did have a large Roebuck button on display and was button-holing some passers-by to educate them know about the outside-Philly money trying to steal this election. She was not a poll worker.) Then there were the robo-calls, the crypto survey/poll calls which in actuality were FLM campaigners using subterfuge to undermine support for Jim Roebuck.
The lack of trust between the factions of the Democratic party in this city, which led the Williams’ faction attempt to steal/buy the election, just taints whatever legitimate concerns community members have for their kids. To trust in the old Philly way of staging a campaign – with lots of glitz & little substance or debate. Does a disservice to all who put their faith in Ms. Muhammed campaign. Parents and their children really get “used” by this obvious power grab.
April 25th, 2012 at 11:21 am
I’m really glad that WPL posted that article about her funding. I had NO idea and almost voted for her.
April 25th, 2012 at 1:37 pm
Does that mean that I won’t get any more flyers/posters/leaflets and supervised conversations in the park?
April 25th, 2012 at 4:00 pm
It is interesting that the article referenced only one other Assembly race in Philadelphia … that being the one between Babette Josephs and Brian Sims; and rightly so, in my opinion. Babette was an entrenched representative with a very pro-gay rights record, but Brian was himself a gay man and this was a district with a significant LGBT constituency. Now here in the 188th, Roebuck has a very pro-gay record and is a charter member of the LGBT Rights Coalition in the state assembly; and Fatima identified herself as an openly bisexual woman and strong supporter of LGBT issues. Both districts caused angst and soul searching among the pro-LGBT voters. Fatima won the endorsement of The Stonewall Democratic Club (the most influential LGBT political group in Philly), but Jim Roebuck won the endorsement of The Philadelphia Gay News.
Bottom line: school vouchers are not the only issue. At least here in Philly we are seeing the emergence of a powerful and savvy new voting bloc that no longer can be dismissed or underestimated.
April 25th, 2012 at 7:09 pm
I am thrilled that Jim fended off Ms Muhammad’s challenge. He is a man of great integrity, fighting against formidable odds. The State Republicans have great influence, power and most importantly, money. They use people like Ms Muhammad, Anthony Williams and others to push these vouchers. But let me table these political machinations and the vouchers for now to address a higher priority; better schools.
The elephant in the room is that Philadelphia has many great school models and the potential for many more. Why can’t we produce another Sadie Alexander, another Girl’s High, another Science and Engineering, another Masterman, another Central? When Alternative Schools were first in the nation-wide spotlight, Parkway was considered the model to be emulated nationally; even world-wide. Now, we act as if we have no solutions.For other students, could we not, with all of the abandoned houses in this city, take a group of supervised students and teach them to become carpenters, electricians, plumbers, stone masons, brick layers, etc?
What I would like to do is meet with other residents and develop and viable plan for improvement; one that does not include shoveling out more money to a Charter School with little or no accountability. This would be a plan using some of the ideas listed above and others solicited from thoughtful neighbors. Then, perhaps we can challenge city and state officials to make these ideas become a reality.
April 26th, 2012 at 9:09 am
Honestly, a part of me feels like Ms. Muhammad was used by the outside interests, that they saw her “demographics” and jumped on the chance to nab some “liberal” voters via a black, LGBTQ, Muslim woman. As Philly Bud said, the LGBTQ community is becoming a force in politics and being recognized as such.
I think she’s earnest and that she wants to do what’s best for her community but I also feel she is very naive based on her comment that she can’t turn down money as a newbie to the scene. Donors, especially PACs, will expect you to legislate in favor of their beliefs once they’ve paid your way into office. That money isn’t free, it comes with quite a few strings, and her comments about it solidified why I can’t vote for her.
Ernie, you’re right. We need to not only focus on education into college but vocational education. We will always need infrastructure and quality, competent people to maintain it. There is _money_ in plumbing. When you have a plumbing emergency, people can’t afford to shop around too much, they need it fixed _now_. We’ve moved away from vocational training as a society and need to return to it. We’ve lost the focus on infrastructure as a nation and need to return to it.