Fattah Concedes Defeat; Cohen Loses State Rep. Race

Longtime U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah has conceded defeat and venerable State Rep. Mark Cohen lost, too.

While the results for presidential candidates were the talk of the town, results for other important and hotly contested races showed two venerable incumbents going down in defeat.

One of the most watched elections was the U.S. House of Representatives Second District between Democratic hopefuls Chaka Fattah, Dwight Evans, Dan Muroff and Brian Gordon.

Eleven-term incumbent Fattah was up against a few new Jewish faces to the race for the Democratic nomination in ward leader Muroff and Lower Merion Township commissioner Gordon, as well as Dwight Evans.

Fattah has made headlines quite a bit in the past few months — he was indicted on charges of bribery, money laundering and bank and mail fraud among others.

The thought seemed to change voters’ minds — and Fattah conceded defeat.

Evans was leading with 42 percent of the votes with 97 percent of precincts reporting as of about 8:45 a.m. Wednesday. Fattah had 34 percent.

As of the same time, Muroff had only 10 percent and Gordon pulled in 13 percent.

Evans will face Republican nominee James Jones, who ran unopposed, in the fall.

In the race for a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 182, Democratic incumbent Brian Sims beat out Marni Snyder, Ben Waxman and Louis Lanni. The district covers Center City and parts of South Philadelphia.

Sims pulled in 40 percent of the vote, edging newcomer Waxman who pulled in 35 percent with 97 percent of precincts reporting. Waxman was one of two Jewish candidates along with Snyder, who pulled in 14 percent. Lanni gained 12 percent.

There were no Republican candidates in this race.

In the more hotly contested race — once again — between Mark Cohen and Jared Solomon for Pennsylvania 202nd State Legislative District, Cohen was unseated by Solomon.

The two faced off last in 2014 in a close race with Solomon losing to Cohen by just 158 votes. The district covers the Castor Gardens, Oxford Circle, Wissinoming, Burholme, Lawncrest, Lawndale and Summerdale neighborhoods.

Last time, Cohen won with 51.8 percent of the vote, leaving Solomon with 48.2 percent. This time,  with 97 percent of precincts reporting, Solomon pulled ahead with 57 percent of the vote to Cohen’s 43 percent.

Cohen had held this seat since 1974. Solomon will run unopposed in November.

Contact: mstern@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740