Sims Holds 182nd Legislative Seat In Win Over Drew Murray

PHILADELPHIA — State Rep. Brian Sims won't be leaving Philadelphia any time soon, as he has been declared the winner of the 182nd legislative district in Pennsylvania, defeating Republican challenger Drew Murray.

Vote totals in Philadelphia show as of 2:50 p.m. Wednesday, Sims has received 22,313 votes and Murray 5,048 with all 65 districts reported.

However, Philadelphia has more than 162,200 mail-in ballots to yet be counted as of 2:50 p.m, according to the state.

The New York Times has also called the race for Sims.

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Sims is one of Pennsylvania's most headline-making politicians

The 182nd legislative district covers Rittenhouse, Fitler Square, Logan Square, Midtown/Gayborhood, Washington Square West, Bella Vista, Hawthorne, Fairmount, Queen Village, and Market East and small parts of East Passyunk in Philadelphia.

The 42-year-old took the seat in 2012, becoming the first openly gay person elected to the general assembly. 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.

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.

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!"

Murray, however, doesn't have social media baggage going into the election.

A Main Line native, Murray has worked as a regional sales manager for O’Brien Systems Inc.

He's got some political experience at a local level.

Murray became a Board Member of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, as well as the President of the Friends of Coxe Park. And from 2015 to 2019, he served as President of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association.

Murray also serves as Vice Chair of the Philadelphia Crosstown Coalition and is a Board Member of the Center City District.

He recently attacked Sims, saying Sims had already convicted the officers involved in the death of Walter Wallace Jr.

"The presumption of innocence is lost on Representative Brian Sims. He has convicted two police officers prior to seeing all the evidence," he said following Wallace's death. "A Representative should not be trying to escalate a bad situation by stoking anger.

As with many younger members of the GOP, Murray supports LGBTQ equality.

He is opposed to the proposed safe injection sites in Philadelphia, but wants to curb addiction in the city.

Murray also sought to keep the city's wage and real estate taxes low and says the city's sanctuary city status for undocumented immigrants is divisive and "sends the wrong message to residents and the federal government."

In 2018, Sims won 90.6 percent of the vote over Independent James McDevitt, who earned 9.4 percent of the vote.

See full coverage of the election in Pennsylvania here.