Chaka Fattah

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Chaka Fattah
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 2nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1995
Preceded by	Lucien Blackwell
Born	November 21, 1956 (1956-11-21) (age 51) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Renee Chenault-Fattah
Religion	Baptist

Chaka Fattah (born Arthur Davenport on November 21, 1956 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), has served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1994, representing the 2nd congressional district of Pennsylvania (map), which includes North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, a very small portion of Northeast Philadelphia and Cheltenham Township in Montgomery County.

[edit] Public life

He served as a Representative in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1983 to 1988 and a State Senator from 1988 to 1994, defeating Republican incumbent Milton Street. He has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1994, representing the 2nd district in Pennsylvania after defeating Lucien Blackwell in the Democratic primary.

Main article: Philadelphia mayoral election, 2007

In November of 2006, he declared his unsuccessful candidacy for Mayor of Philadelphia^[1], where two-term incumbent Mayor John F. Street was barred from re-election by term limits, amid pressure from Democratic voters to keep his Congressional seat, maintaining a Philadelphia representative on the powerful Appropriations Committee in the House. His candidacy announcement took place next to the recently completed Microsoft School of the Future in the city's Parkside neighborhood, emphasizing his campaign platform of being in favor of better educational opportunities for city youth.

Since emerging as a mayoral candidate, Fattah has come under fire from the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) for his repeated calls to grant a new trial to Mumia Abu-Jamal.^[2] Abu-Jamal was convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner,^[3] creating contention between people who believe he is guilty^[4] and those who believe he received an unfair trial and wrong conviction.^[5] The case is currently under appeal, after previous appeals resulted in a death sentence being thrown out but failed to overturn the conviction. He was also criticized for possibly unethical campaign spending, based on new campaign finance rules adopted by the city of Philadelphia. The Fattah campaign defended itself, claiming that it had followed less restrictive federal rules in spending the money.^[6] A portion of the excess contributions was later returned to the exploratory committee from Fattah's mayoral fund, following a settlement with the city's Board of Ethics.^[6]

Congressman Fattah, who represents an overwhelmingly Democratic district, opposed the War in Iraq and supports Congressman John Murtha's call for troop withdrawal.^[7] He has publicly supported the “Bring Our Troops Home and Iraq Sovereignty Act” a bill that calls for bringing the troops home within six months and transitioning the Iraqis to self government.

He has endorsed Barack Obama for President in 2008.^[8]

[edit] Personal

Fattah's parents, David Fattah (born Russell Davenport) and Sister Falaka Fattah (born Frances Brown, also known as Queen Mother Falaka Fattah), are community activists in West Philadelphia, where they are building an "urban Boys' Town" through their organization, the House of Umoja.^[9] Chaka Fattah has lived all his life in the city, attending Overbrook High School, the Community College of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Institute of Government, where he received an MGA in 1986.^[10]

He has four brothers.

He is the father of three daughters and one son. His two youngest daughters go to private school.

He has been married twice. His current wife is Renee Chenault-Fattah, a local Philadelphia television news broadcaster on WCAU-TV (NBC 10).

He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans. Representative Fattah is a Prince Hall Freemason, Scottish Rite

[edit] Election Results

• 2006 Race for US House
  • Chaka Fattah (D) (inc.), 89%
  • Michael Gessner (R), 9%
• 2004 Race for US House
  • Chaka Fattah (D) (inc.), 88%
  • Stewart Bolno (R), 12%
• 2002 Race for US House
  • Chaka Fattah (D) (inc.), 88%
  • Tom Dougherty (R), 12%
• 2000 Race for US House
  • Chaka Fattah (D) (inc.), 98%
  • Ken Krawchuk (Libertarian), 2%
• 1998 Race for US House
  • Chaka Fattah (D) (inc.), 86%
  • Anne Marie Mulligan (R), 14%
• 1996 Race for US House
  • Chaka Fattah (D) (inc.), 88%
  • Larry Murphy (R), 12%
• 1994 Race for US House
  • Chaka Fattah (D), 79%
  • Lawrence Watson (R), 18%

[edit] Ideological ratings

• Americans for Democratic Action — 90% for 2005.
• AFL-CIO — 92% for 2005.
• National Journal — Composite Liberal Score of 83% for 2005.^[11]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Congressman Chaka Fattah official U.S. House website
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Profile on thenextmayor.com
• Famous Prince Hall freemasons