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BREAKING: PA-2: Sims Drops Out

brian-simsBrian Sims is exiting the PA-2 Democratic primary.

On his Facebook page, the State Rep. announced that he is abandoning his congressional run. Instead, he is endorsing Dwight Evans.

Last month, an internal PPP poll showed Evans leading the field with 37%. Embattled incumbent Chaka Fattah received 21% while Sims got just 6%.

“Having walked the streets of the District, and spoken to thousands of neighbors and constituents, I now feel that my friend and colleague, Dwight Evans, is best equipped to take our fight for justice to Washington, DC and will serve Philadelphia well in Congress,” Sims wrote.

“This was not an easy decision, but please know that I am so grateful for your help and support over these past few months.”

Sims then turned to his re-election campaign, which he was originally running concurrently with his PA-2 campaign.

“For now, I have a re-election campaign to win and I hope that you will continue to support my efforts, especially as I work to expand civil rights and fight for justice and equality as a State Representative,” he concluded.

Ben Waxman is running against Sims in the HD-182 Democratic primary.

The 182nd district consists of Center City Philadelphia, specifically Rittenhouse Square and Washington Square West.

20 Responses

  1. He’s a complete isolationist. He gets his recognition from shamelessly bashing his colleagues on the other side and silly publicity stunts rather than actually getting things done for his district. He forgets he’s just a State Rep and not a member of Congress, or even a State Senator for that matter. I agree with the commenters below that he’s probably just building his name recognition and his war chest for an eventual PA-1 run. News flash Sims: just because Bob Brady is white doesn’t mean another white guy can win that seat in this day and age. Yes, even if you’re gay!

  2. Dump Sims

    1) an ego trip since last summer/fall? Was the dancing video your first clue?

    2) “I think at some point in the last 2 weeks or so he had a “oh crap” moment and realized he was heading for a beating in April”

    He must have looked in the mirror and realized he was white (and that voters could see it too).

    3) “probably also realized challenging evans’s petitions was going to be useless”

    Kenney’s already behind Evans. So, no way Evans was going to come up short.

    4) Sims is going to kick himself if Evans has a heart-attack or something that takes him out of the race.

  3. brain simms gonna run for congeress in 2017 when cngsman mike brady retires for ever, brady is 70 tired of the job,

  4. David Diano- yep, I totally agree with you about the donations.

    As for what has he been doing all this time, I really think he was on an ego trip since last summer/fall and convinced himself he’d pull off a win for congress the way he did against josephs, barely, in 2012 (and don’t forget he had her bumped from the ballot 2 years later over bad petitions, thus avoiding what could have been a tough rematch between them, after he had achieved nothing in his first 2 years in office, after promising in the first campaign to set the world on fire). I think at some point in the last 2 weeks or so he had a “oh crap” moment and realized he was heading for a beating in April, and probably also realized challenging evans’s petitions was going to be useless, and also piss a lot of people off.

  5. Dump Sims-

    If he had any real confidence, he would have run for just the one congressional seat, and supported a good progressive replacement for the 182nd.

    I really think he is going to be in hot water with the voters/donors if he tries to keep the money he raised for the 2nd congressional district and didn’t even submit petitions.

    What was he doing the past three weeks? Circulating petitions? What was he spending money on? If he wasn’t planning to even submit petitions, why bother to wait until now to announce/withdraw. The other candidates managed to get enough signatures.

    Did Sims get 2,000 signatures and then abandon, when he had enough to submit and get on the ballot?

    He had $180K cash on hand at the end of December, and another 6 weeks of fundraising before dropping out.

    That’s a lot of money and he should give it back to the donors.

  6. Pa expat- all your points are good ones, I differ from you in that after putting up witth his empty self promotion for 2 terms I no longer give sims thhe benefit of he doubt.

    As for him pulling the plug before the primary, I think he foresaw himself getting shellacked very hard on primary Election Day, and possibly even losing the state house seat because the electorate doesn’t like a politician who runs for two jobs at once. I actually think sims is a pretty big coward and afraid of losing, especially in the public eye. I have a good friend who watched sims panic big time inside a polling place on primary Election Day on 2012, because sims could tell it was going to be close between himself and that little old lady Babette josephs. He was freaking out and not poised or professional at all. His ego will only allow him to enter a contest he thinks is a shoo in for him to win. Losing terrifies him, and for the pa 2 seat he finally realized in recent days he was going to get smoked.

    Back in the fall when he first announced he wpd run for congress sims assured the media that when the time came he would have the support of ranking democratic officials. So where was that support? It wasn’t turning up so he bailed.

  7. Dump Sims –

    I would assume there are countless Philly pols biding their time to run in the first when Brady is done. Moreover, I’m sure Brady will have some opinions about his preferred successor as well, and I don’t think someone from the Center City bubble fits the bill.

    I just find it so strange that Sims didn’t stick it out until the primary. He could have tried to make an impression on voters outside his legislative district, and he might have been able to push back against the single issue, client politics label that so many criticize him for.

    I’ve always given Sims the benefit of the doubt, but his pulling the plug so quickly shows me that he’s just like the rest of our calculating and myopic political class.

  8. Pa expat- it’s possible sims looked at this as a dry run for pa 01. Problem for him is if and when pa 1 becomes open, there’s gonna be a crowded field of very well funded folks, sims will once again be running in a majority black district, and he still, at this point, has zero accomplishments in the legislature. Plus if brady vacates his seat between elections, then the party will appoint his successor, and I doubt very much sims has played well enough witth others in the sandbox that the party leaders would give the seat to him. And then johnny doc will have something to say about al this. Sims will have some center city gay vote, but I submit he is not that popular in his district. He’s a blatant camera hog.

  9. Perhaps this was all a clever ploy for Sims to make a practice run, laying the groundwork to run in PA-01 when Brady tips over or retires?

  10. EyeOnTheMoney-

    Excellent points. He should give back any remaining money from his congressional bid to the donors. (well, if he wants to continue to claim he’s ethical)

  11. This means Sims can throw the money he raised for his rather short congressional “run” – which was quite a lot ($230,000) since he blasted supporters with fundraising emails and fundraisers. He didn’t even bother to send an email to these same people on his email list that he had dropped out of the race. Seems a little underhanded but I guess he’s a fast learner when it comes to raising money to protect his backyard. Must have learned a couple of tricks as Babette’s treasurer and in his few short years of doing absolutely nothing in office.

  12. Dear Brian Sims
    I will also now follow your footsteps is to support your fellow State House member Dwight Evans for congress because he is the only one person of who can defeat the Incumbent congressman Chaka Fattah into the primary, and win the general election easily.

  13. Dear Brian Sims
    I do support your Decision is to drop out of the Congressional race because for the district is you’re were running for wasn’t really a white district, and I will now support you for reelection in the Pennsylvania State House Representative in the 182nd District in 2016.

  14. Waxman is probably having an “Oh shit” moment. Sims probably grew a sizeable donor base for the future.

  15. I assume Nick Fields is friends with Ben Waxman since he consistently posts about waxman (fundraising, announcing, petitions) but has rarely if ever mentioned Marni Snyder.

    Considering he was a press aide to a PA State Senator it’s not a stretch that they’d be friends

  16. Translation: Having walked the streets of the District, and spoken to thousands of neighbors and constituents, I… realized I wasn’t black and had no chance.

    PoliticsPA –

    Marni Snyder is also running for the 182nd, not just Sims and Waxman.

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