Philly Rep Brian Sims Announces Lieutenant Governor Bid

PHILADELPHIA — One of Pennsylvania's most outspoken elected officials recently announced he is running for lieutenant governor.

State Rep. Brian Sims recently said he will be looking to take over the seat held by Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who announced he is running for Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seat held by Pat Toomey.

Toomey is not seeking reelection.

Sims, a Democrat who represents Pennsylvania's 182nd district in Philadelphia, made the announcement Monday.

"After 10 years in the State House, I’ve taken the lessons that my parents taught me and reinforced them in my work as a legislator: to take responsibility, commit to service, be courageous, and push for fairness," he said in his announcement. "I’m ready to take these values from representing our state’s largest city to leading the Commonwealth."

Sims, 42, was born in Washington DC and grew up in Downingtown, where he graduated from Downingtown High School. He later played football at Bloomsburg University and went on to earn his juris doctorate from Michigan State University School of Law.

He was elected to the PA House in 2012 and is the first openly gay member of the state legislature.

During his time in office, Sims has been a vocal advocate for the LGBTQ community but has created controversy with his social media use.

In 2013, he introduced legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania and fought to ban gay conversion therapy in the state.

Despite being vehemently opposed to President Donald Trump and his policies, Sims called a cartoon of Trump and Vladimir Putin appearing as lovers homophobic.

Sims has served as the prime sponsor of 68 bills or resolutions, of these, one bill has progressed to be debated on the house floor, and nine resolutions have been passed.

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On social media, Sims has drawn ire for some posts.

In 2019, he shared a roughly eight-minute long video of a confrontation with Planned Parenthood protesters. Republicans decried the video and accused sims of a "non-apology" for a subsequent video he shared on Facebook.

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And in 2018, Sims shared a photo of himself with his middle finger to the camera, saying it was a message to Vice President Mike Pence.

"Let me be the first to officially welcome you to the City of Brotherly Love and to my District! We're a City of soaring diversity," he said on Twitter. "We believe in the power of all people: Black, Brown, Queer, Trans, Atheist, & Immigrant. So...get bent, then get out!"

In the 2020 general election, Sims defeated easily Republican challenger Drew Murray, 34,225 votes to 6,969 votes.