28-415: Thomas Milton Street Sr. (April 25, 1939 – November 28, 2022) was an American businessman, a Pennsylvania state senator from Philadelphia , and the brother of former Philadelphia mayor John F. Street . Originally a street hot dog vendor, he rose to prominence as an activist challenging the city's vending and housing ordinances. Street was born on April 25, 1939, the middle of three brothers. He grew up on
56-600: A Democrat in 1980. However, shortly after his election, he switched parties to Republican in order to give the Republicans control of the State Senate. He was rewarded with a committee chairmanship and a finer office that was previously State Senator Vince Fumo 's. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress against incumbent Representative Bill Gray in 1982 , and an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for re-election as State Senator in 1984. Street declared his candidacy in
84-761: A U.S. citizen and a Pennsylvania resident four years, and a resident of that district one year prior to their election and must reside in that district during their term. President of the Senate: Austin Davis (D) President Pro Tempore of the Senate: Kim Ward (R) As of January 3, 2023: The Senate is made up of 50 members who are elected by district. In 2012, a State Senate district had an average population of 254,047 residents. 40°15′52.9″N 76°53′1.9″W / 40.264694°N 76.883861°W / 40.264694; -76.883861 Malcolm Kenyatta Malcolm Kenyatta (born July 30, 1990)
112-760: A battle with prostate cancer . Pennsylvania State Senate Minority The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly , the Pennsylvania state legislature . The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg . Senators are elected for four-year terms, staggered every two years, such that half of the seats are contested at each election. Even- and odd-numbered district seats are contested in separate election years. The president pro tempore of
140-585: A farm near Swedeland in Montgomery County , outside Philadelphia, in a strict family of Seventh-day Adventists . He attended Oakwood College and Temple University , and was owner of Street Food Concessions prior to entering politics. Street was elected to the 181st District of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1978, and to the Pennsylvania State Senate as
168-423: A maintenance contract at Philadelphia International Airport and Northeast Philadelphia Airport ; federal prosecutors alleged that the airport contacting company hired Street and paid him $ 2 million worth of consulting fees and income for which Street did little or no work, and for which he did not report income on his tax returns or pay tax. During his trial, Street claimed that the federal income tax on wages
196-406: A noontime rally at City Hall plaza on March 1, 2007, he would give up his candidacy for mayor. Media reports placed attendance at about 200, many of those curious passersby. Street was undeterred, saying he "underestimated" his passion and vowed to continue in the race, not wanting it to be considered a " publicity stunt ." Five days later Street withdrew, announcing his intention to run for one of
224-775: Is an American politician from the North Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . A member of the Democratic Party , he has served as the Pennsylvania state representative for the 181st district since 2019. He was the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania Auditor General in the 2024 election , losing to incumbent Republican Timothy DeFoor . Kenyatta was born to Kelly Kenyatta and Malcolm J. Kenyatta, at Temple University Hospital in North Central Philadelphia. He has three adopted siblings. Kenyatta
252-559: Is illegal and the Internal Revenue Service had no authority to collect taxes, a common tax protestor argument universally rejected by the courts. On February 22, 2008, a jury convicted Street of three counts of failure to file tax returns for years 2002, 2003, and 2004. The crimes were misdemeanors. He was acquitted on four counts of mail and wire fraud; and the jury deadlocked on two charges that Milton had filed false returns in 2000 and 2001. A co-defendant, John H. Velardi Sr.,
280-446: Is the grandson of the civil rights activist Muhammad I. Kenyatta . Kenyatta earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in strategic communication from Temple University and a Master of Science in public communication from Drexel University . During college, Kenyatta organized student protests against proposed education budget cuts by then-Governor Tom Corbett . During college, Kenyatta was also an avid poet and performer. In 2008, with
308-512: The 2007 Philadelphia mayoral election , while awaiting trial on federal tax charges. His candidacy was denounced by many, including eventual Mayor Michael Nutter , who called Street's candidacy a distraction from important issues. Street was later arrested on February 19 in New Jersey for failure to pay multiple traffic tickets, though he asserted upon release that his campaign would continue. Street had announced that if 5,000 people did not attend
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#1732855880140336-552: The Electoral College for Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris in 2020 United States presidential election . In April 2023, Biden appointed Kenyatta as chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans. In December 2017, Kenyatta announced his campaign for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to replace
364-522: The United States Senate in the 2022 Democratic primary . He lost the Democratic nomination to Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman , winning only 10.9% of the vote and also losing his home county. On March 8, 2023, Kenyatta announced his candidacy to be Pennsylvania's Auditor General . Kenyatta was the first Democrat to announce a bid to challenge the incumbent Auditor General, Timothy DeFoor . He defeated Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley in
392-517: The 181st Pennsylvania House district as the Republican nominee. He received 4.66% of the vote, losing to Democrat Malcolm Kenyatta . On May 15, 2019, Street announced his candidacy in the 2019 mayoral election. Having announced too late to run on either party's ticket, he ran an independent write-in campaign. He had until August 1, 2019 to submit the necessary paperwork and petition with the required signatures. Street later returned to prominence during
420-418: The 1990s through his many business ventures, including a local amphibious tour bus company and vending and consulting contracts with the city and Philadelphia International Airport . In November 2006, Street was indicated on federal charges of wire fraud , mail fraud , and tax offenses. The fraud charges arose from Street's involvement with Philadelphia Airport Services, a joint venture established to seek
448-491: The Democratic primary election. During the primary, Kenyatta faced criticism after he was caught on camera claiming Pinsley didn't "like Black people." His victory made Kenyatta the first openly gay man nominated by any major party for any statewide office in Pennsylvania. Among his priorities, Kenyatta has stated that as auditor general he would create a bureau of worker safety and restart school audits that were transferred to
476-480: The Democratic primary, and lost, accumulating 24.07% of the primary vote. On March 10, 2015, Street filed as a Democratic candidate for mayor of Philadelphia . As with previous years, violence prevention was a central theme of his campaign. He received 1.68 percent of the vote, finishing last in 6th place. Shortly after his failed campaign, Street announced a proposal to train 5,000 residents in martial arts to support law enforcement. Street ran for his old seat in
504-557: The Department of Education by DeFoor. Kenyatta and his husband Matt live in Philadelphia . In 2017, Kenyatta was named as one of Philadelphia Magazine 's 38 "people we love" as a "neighborhood champ." Kenyatta was the subject of an award-winning documentary, Going Forward , which followed his 2018 victory. The Philadelphia Tribune called Kenyatta one of Philadelphia's most influential African-Americans. In 2020, Kenyatta
532-496: The Senate becomes the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania in the event of the sitting lieutenant governor's removal, resignation or death. In this case the president pro tempore and lieutenant governor would be the same person. The Pennsylvania Senate has been meeting since 1791. The president of the Senate is the lieutenant governor , who has no vote except to break a tie vote. Senators must be at least 25 years of age. They must be
560-587: The daughter of longtime city councilman David Cohen , in her 2015 bid for the Philadelphia City Council . Kenyatta backed Joe Biden in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries and has been critical of Bernie Sanders . He does not support an immediate transition to Medicare for All , noting that he would support interim bipartisan measures instead. Kenyatta supports abolishing the United States Senate filibuster . In 2016 and 2020, he
588-560: The five Democratic at-large council seats on the last day to file nominating petitions. This would place him in contention with his nephew, Sharif Street , son of the former mayor of Philadelphia. Street himself pointed out that the city residency requirement for a council candidate is one year instead of the three years for a mayoral candidate. There has been some question as to where Street officially resided, in Philadelphia or Moorestown , New Jersey . On March 12, 2007, Street's petition
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#1732855880140616-569: The help of theater professor Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, he founded the award-winning poetry collective Babel, which has twice won the College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational . Kenyatta completed a Harvard Kennedy School of Government three-week executive education program, Senior Executives in State and Local Government, as a David Bohnett Fellow in 2019. Kenyatta has been engaged in community affairs and politics since he
644-498: The long-serving incumbent Curtis Thomas . He won a five-way Democratic party primary election in May 2018 with 42.1% of the vote. The night of the election, unidentified people set up homophobic posters of him and his ex-husband throughout the district. Kenyatta won the general election in November against Republican opponent Milton Street with 95.3% of the vote. The win made him one of
672-537: The youngest elected state representatives in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the first openly-LGBTQ person of color elected to either chamber of the Pennsylvania General Assembly in the state's history. Despite running in the 2022 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Kenyatta also remained on the primary ballot for re-election to 181st district, for which he ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections. On February 18, 2021, Kenyatta announced his bid for
700-544: Was acquitted. In September 2008, U.S. District Judge Legrome D. Davis sentenced Street to 30 months in prison; during the hearing, Judge Davis said that Street's conduct in failing to file returns or pay tax on almost $ 3 million in income was "outrageous" and also ordered Street to pay $ 413,000 in back taxes. Street appealed, but his conviction was affirmed by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Street served 26 months in prison. Street died on November 28, 2022, after
728-487: Was challenged in court by a voter, since Street turned in only 894 validated signatures into City Hall and the requirement to be placed on the Democratic Primary ballot is 1,000. He did get on the ballot and was unsuccessful in his bid, finishing 17th of 19 candidates (for five spots) with 1.47% of the vote. Street was once again running for mayor in the 2011 election . He challenged incumbent mayor Michael Nutter in
756-569: Was elected as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention . He was selected as one of seventeen speakers to jointly deliver the keynote address at the 2020 Democratic National Convention . This made him, Sam Park , and Robert Garcia the first openly-gay speakers in a keynote slot at a Democratic National Convention. Kenyatta was one of 20 electors selected by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party to vote in
784-463: Was eleven years old, serving as the junior block captain with the Philadelphia Streets program. Kenyatta has worked as a community activist, specifically around issues of poverty, which he has called "the moral and economic issue of our generation." He worked as a political consultant on multiple state and local races, most notably as the campaign manager for lawyer and activist Sherrie Cohen,
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