Community members are invited this Thursday (April 12) to a Candidates’ Night for the Democratic candidates running for the 188th district seat. The event is hosted by the 27th Democratic Ward and will feature candidates Jeff Curry, Dianne Settles and the incumbent Jim Roebuck. As the primary election day is approaching fast (it will be held on May 15), this is a great opportunity to discuss current issues in Pennsylvania and ask the candidates what they would do in Harrisburg to bring about the policies you support.

The event will take place at the University of the Sciences, Rosenberger Hall (600 S. 43rd St.) beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Also a reminder that the last day for voter registration before the primary is Monday, April 16. For more information, visit the Committee of Seventy website.

Lawyer and West Philadelphia resident Jeff Curry announced this week that he is running for state representative in Pennsylvania’s 188th district as a Democrat in the May 15 primary. The announcement was made on Jan. 1 at the University City Arts League, where he addressed the crowd of over one hundred and fifty supporters, according to a press release.

The seat has been held by State Rep. James Roebuck since 1985.

Curry has been a resident of this district for the last decade. He and his wife Angela first moved to the district in 2007 to start and raise a family in the community. A father of three young children, Curry is running for office because he feels “Harrisburg does not reflect his family’s values of hard work, respect others, and equality and fairness for all.”  Continue Reading

Rumors have been swirling around in the neighborhood for a couple of months and finally West Philly Local can confirm: Cedar Park-based entrepreneur and community organizer Algernong Allen is running for State Representative in the 188th District in the 2014 election.

Allen, 40, a Democrat who grew up near 58th and Warrington, will vie for the seat that Rep. James Roebuck has held since 1985. The primary is slated for May 20, 2014.

Allen is the former owner of the popular Elena’s Soul Lounge near 49th and Baltimore, which was destroyed by fire on Christmas Eve 2012. Allen currently serves on the board of Cedar Park Neighbors and is heavily involved in local community organizing, including work as a block captain. Allen is also a board member of the Baltimore Avenue Business Association.

Here is Allen’s launch video on YouTube:

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.

By now just about everyone has seen the posters around the neighborhood over the last few weeks – the ones with a woman’s portrait stylized like the President Barack Obama “Hope” posters.

The woman portrayed is Fatimah Loren Muhammad, who is challenging long-time incumbent James Roebuck in tomorrow’s primary for the Democratic nomination in the state General Assembly’s 188th District, which includes a sizable chunk of West Philly. Muhammad is an intriguing candidate to say the least. She is young (27), a Penn graduate, Muslim, openly bisexual and she grew up poor, and sometimes homeless, as the daughter of a single mother. That story resonates with lots of West Philly voters. The Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity recently endorsed her.

But there is another Fatimah Muhammad, one whose candidacy is being bankrolled by many people who have a very different life story. Her connection to conservative, pro-voucher (or “school choice,” depending on your political persuasion) donors has been well reported. Rep. Roebuck, who has served in the General Assembly since 1985 (too long for some people’s taste), has been an obstacle for the pro-voucher contingent, which aims to provide students public money to attend private and parochial schools.

Spend a few minutes with Muhammad’s campaign finance reports (they are included below) and another couple of minutes on Google and you will find a straight line between her campaign and pro-voucher, Republican billionaires.

Roebuck’s campaign has drawn money from those opposed to vouchers, including $5,000 from the Committee to Support Public Education, a PAC funded by the Pennsylvania Federation of Teachers. That single contribution accounts for about a third of the total donations to Roebuck’s campaign.

Muhammad has said that the whole voucher issue is a “distraction.”

As for the money, she recently told The Philadelphia Tribune that, as a newcomer, she can’t be choosy about donations.

“As someone who’s new to politics, I can’t afford not to take money from anyone,” she recently told the Trib‘s Eric Mayes.

She continued in the article: “In this campaign vouchers have been used by my opponent to try and pigeonhole me in a particular area,” she said. “My stance is to keep everything on the table. I want parents at the center of this — not for political gain or anything. My stance has always been empowering parents.”

Below is the recently released campaign finance report for Friends of Fatimah. At least 80 percent of the $76,030 she raised is from groups and individuals connected to school voucher lobbyists, mostly organizations funded by Students First.

Here is a playbill for the biggest contributors:

• Students First PAC – $25,000

A school voucher campaign contributor that receives its funding from the American Federation for Children, a network of wealthy pro-voucher contributors. Finance wizard and billionaire Joel Greenberg of Bala Cynwyd sits on the organization’s Board of Directors. Gov. Tom Corbett reportedly received $50,000 from the organization in his campaign for governor.

• Women for Change – $4,000

The City Paper calls this organization, which lists an Elkins Park address but very little else, a “shell of a PAC.”  On March 21, Students First contributed $10,000 to Women for Change. On March 23, Women for Change contributed $4,000 to Fatimah Muhammad.

• Public Education Excellence – $7,500.

A PAC run in part by Joy Herbert, a parent of a West Philadelphia High School student who served on the school’s School Advisory Council. The PAC received $6,000 from Students First on March 19 and another $6,000 on March 27, according to campaign finance reports.

• Progressive Agenda PAC – $5,900

Another PAC that received money from Students First. On March 27, Students First contributed $6,000 to Progressive Agenda, about a week before Progressive Agenda contributed $5,900 to Friends of Fatimah.

• Black Clergy PAC – $1,000

Also on March 27, Students First contributed $6,000 to the Black Clergy PAC, according to campaign finance reports. On April 6 the PAC contributed $1,000 to the Muhammad campaign and April 17, the Black Clergy publicly endorsed Muhammad.

• Citizens Networking for Progress PAC – $3,000

On March 27, Students First contributed $8,000 to this PAC. On April 9. Friends of Fatimah received $3,000 from the PAC.

• Barbara Chavous – $9,239.03

An individual contributor whose address is listed in Macon, Ga. on campaign finance reports, Chavous works for the Muhammad campaign. Her daughter, Dawn Chavous (who contributed $4,000 to the campaign), is married to Philadelphia City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson. Dawn Chavous is also the executive director of Students First PA.

(h/t City Paper‘s Daniel Denvir, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Amara Rockar, The Philadelphia Tribune, UC Neighbors)

Friends of Fatimah Campaign Finance