After representing Philadelphia, our nation’s birthplace, in Congress for the past decade, Congressman Dwight Evans announced that he will not seek re-election.
According to the Daily Caller, Evans’ district is considered the most liberal in the country, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index (PVI) of D+40 — making it one of the safest Democratic seats in the nation.
Despite the district’s overwhelming partisan lean, labor unions continued to endorse Evans and contributed tens of thousands of dollars to his campaign over the years.
Notably, he has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from major public-sector unions such as SEIU and AFSCME.
Evans was a vocal supporter and co-sponsor of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, a controversial bill criticized by opponents for undermining workers’ freedom to choose union membership and expanding the political power of union leadership.
Before serving in Congress, Evans spent 35 years as a Pennsylvania state representative.
In 1998, he notably opposed the teachers union, which spent more than $150,000 in an unsuccessful effort to defeat him.
Evans was first elected to Congress in a 2016 special election to replace former Congressman Chaka Fattah, who resigned after being indicted — and later convicted — on charges of bribery, fraud, racketeering and corruption.
Fattah had long enjoyed support from labor unions, including a $5,000 contribution from the teachers union even after his indictment.
This pattern illustrates how public-sector unions, regardless of a district’s competitiveness, continue to invest heavily in candidates who align with their interests — often using member dues to do so.
In safe Democratic districts like Evans’, unions appear to prioritize influence and ideological alignment over electoral risk, ensuring they maintain reliable support in Washington.
