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few days after he was handpicked to run for the vacant 190th state District seat, West Philly native Darryl Thomas has withdrawn from the race following a Philadelphia Inquirer article questioning his place of residence and voting record.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

“I embrace the opportunity to unite the 190th while working to ensure our communities are safe, our children are educated and we have community re-investment to improve the quality of life for all constituents of the district!,” Johnson-Harrell wrote on her Facebook page, which included photographs with Democratic leaders.

Johnson-Harrell ran for the seat in 2016, finishing last in the Democratic primary – behind Thomas.

Thomas disputed allegations that he was registered to vote in Delaware from 2001 to 2017 despite declaring an official address in the Powelton neighborhood. The Inquirer reported that Thomas voted  twice in Delaware while also voting in election in Philadelphia.

“Unfortunately, vicious and false allegations against me in a recent news article have made it clear that my continuing to run would only distract from the issues I care about and the help that West Philadelphia so desperately needs,” Thomas said late Friday on the Facebook page of his barbershop Philly Cuts.

The seat opened when former Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown was forced to resign in December after being convicted of bribery charges. The Democratic nominee is a virtual lock for the seat, which covers Belmont, Carroll Park, Cathedral Park, Mill Creek, Haddington, East Parkside, West Powelton, Strawberry Mansion, Allegheny West and Lehigh West.

Johnson-Harrell became a victims advocate after her 18-year-old son Charles was murdered in 2011. She started the CHARLES Foundation in his memory. She was named to head Victims Services in District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office last spring.

Other candidates for the seat include Republican Michael Harvey and independents Amen Brown of the Amen Brown Party and Pamela K. Williams of the Working Families Party.