James McDevitt is running as an Independent for state representative of the 182nd district — a seat currently occupied by Democrat Brian Sims, who was elected in 2012 and is the first openly gay legislator in Pennsylvania.
McDevitt’s candidacy, formally announced in early September, is largely a one-man show. It’s about knocking on doors, listening to potential constituents and being present in the district, he said.
What is he hearing after talking with hundreds, if not thousands, of voters?
Politics is local, McDevitt said. People want someone to address concerns affecting their immediate lives, such as endless construction and streets full of opioid users.
Here, McDevitt talks about his strategy to court voters, why it matters that he has lived his entire life in Philadelphia, and how his identity as a gay man is not enough to earn the LGBTQ vote.
Sims did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.
PGN: How has the campaigning been going since you announced in September?
JM: I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback from constituents who are happy there’s somebody else in the race; they’re happy they have a choice to select somebody else who may or may not do the right thing for the district.
PGN: What is a day like in your campaign right now?
JM: Basically it’s a lot of phone calls, a lot of door-knocking, a lot of fundraising — just a lot of day-to-day stuff; emails, following up with constituents. Up until Oct. 9 it was a lot of registrations. I’ve probably registered 450 Democrats in the city. I’m running as an Independent, but you remember the guy who registered you.
PGN: Are you covering the entire 182nd in your campaigning?
JM: Yes. The hardest part about this district is that there are not a lot of doors to knock on — there are a lot of high-rises in the Eighth Ward, so it’s about trying to get in and having little meet-and-greets. Just trying to get the word out there.
PGN: Talk about how you got on the ballot, because you were saying you needed 635 signatures. How did you pull that off?
JM: A lot of door-knocking; I visited a lot of dog parks, met a lot of great constituents and their dogs — but just talking to people about issues that are related to Philadelphia. I think they’re a little tired of hearing about Donald Trump and national politics. They want to hear about issues that affect Philadelphians.
PGN: Current state Rep. Brian Sims is a high-profile politician, very social-media and media-conscious. How do you compete with that? What’s the strategy to take him on?
JM: You can talk about Donald Trump all day online and get a thousand likes, or you can actually do something about it. Posting on Facebook is not going to change anything in 2020. What’s going to change something is restoring 100,000 votes, which is the margin that handed Trump the keys to the White House. Some people talk, some people actually do the work. I consider myself to be more of a workhorse than a show horse — so I think that’s the major difference.
PGN: Talk a little bit more about what you have learned personally over the course of your campaigning.
JM: I learned that constituents want a local politician. There are huge concerns about construction taking over the city. I would show up at zoning-board meetings — you have to be in the district to know what is going on. I hope that message resonates and people start to show up; they don’t want politicians who just promise things and are talking heads.
PGN: Do you want to disclose how much you’ve fundraised?
JM: It’s coming out on Oct. 27, but not a lot. I’m grassroots — just door-knocking.
PGN: What are the top three concerns that you’re hearing from people?
JM: Property taxes are number one, rate of construction in the city and public safety.
PGN: What about your background?
JM: I was a broker for almost 14 years, a financial advisor. I also served as Democratic ward leader for four years and then I was a Republican judge of elections for 12 years. I’m running as an Independent because I would’ve had no chance running against Brian Sims. He’s big establishment — the Democratic LGBT vote. I don’t want to go in and be the identity politician. I want to be the good state representative who actually gets a lot of things passed in Harrisburg and also shows up in the district. I happen to be gay. I think that’s where we need to go — you have to be good first.
PGN: Is there anything else you want to add? I have to ask you, you’ve had some scrapes with the law. Do you want to talk about that at all?
JM: What was that?
PGN: Disorderly conduct?
JM: That was a couple years ago. I unfortunately went to a wedding.
PGN: DUI?
JM: The DUI was in 1994, so I was young, I was stupid, I was coming out. It was a mistake, it happened. The disorderly conduct was just a mess. It was a family wedding, and after the wedding we went into a bar and some guy was apparently getting drinks off people and saying it was on their tab. Something happened and the guy got in my mom’s face. The judge said that I was excessive. I banged him up pretty good, but he grabbed my mother, so I wouldn’t care if I beat him up with a baseball bat.
PGN: Where did you do your community service? Did you learn anything from anger management?
JM: Philly AIDS Thrift. It was like three weeks. The guy was trying to sue me for plastic surgery, $400,000, and he filed charges. At the end of the day, it was disorderly conduct.
PGN: Do you think that influences your ability to be a good representative?
JM: No, I don’t think anybody on the floor in Harrisburg would ever grab my mother, and if they did, I can say I wouldn’t knock them down again. Have I learned anything? Maybe I wouldn’t use my fists, but I’m from Port Richmond and grew up gay there, so I know how to handle myself if need be.
PGN: What do you want voters to know about you?
JM: I’m asking them to try something different. Worst-case scenario, it’s two years. They can bump me out.