Andre Carroll, a progressive from East Germantown, poised to become the next state representative from Northwest Philly

When the Pennsylvania House introduced a bill in 2021 that would have imposed stricter sentences in crimes for which guns were present, Andre Carroll didn’t just disagree with the approach. He wanted to do something about it.

“We’ve seen disproportionately too many folks who look like myself, and many folks in this community, be the recipient of harsh punishments,” said the 33-year-old Democratic candidate for state representative in Northwest Philadelphia’s 201st House District.

Carroll is poised to win his party’s nomination for the seat in the April 23 primary, as he’s the only Democratic candidate on the ballot. State Rep. Stephen Kinsey is retiring after 11 years representing the district, which includes parts of Germantown, East Germantown, West Oak Lane, Ogontz, and Logan.

That 2021 sentencing bill — which did not pass the legislature — inspired Carroll, a Germantown native, to enter the political arena.

He ran in the Democratic primary against Kinsey in 2022, and lost by 15 percentage points.

Kinsey hasn’t endorsed his former competitor, and Carroll could still face a challenge from an independent candidate in the general election. But he’ll be well-positioned to win in a deep blue district, and would be the district’s first openly gay representative and one of a handful of Black LGBTQ members in the General Assembly.

Carroll, raised in a working-class union household, is endorsed by members of the progressive Working Families Party, including Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke, as well as fellow Democrats, such as Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Phila.).

Gun violence is a top issue for Carroll. The candidate said he’d support any legislation that makes it harder for young people and non-law abiding citizens to purchase weapons, as well as efforts to hold gun manufacturers legally accountable and to restrict the purchase of ammunition.

Carroll would also invest in mental health services for the district’s youth, who he says are often left unsupported when processing the trauma of losing friends and classmates.

“I think a lot about how we are asking young people to deal with something that even us as adults haven’t figured out how to handle,” Carroll said. “Death is one of those things.”

Carroll supports raising the state’s minimum wage, as well as investing in family care initiatives such as universal pre-K and making tax rebates more accessible for seniors. He said his experience waiting tables at Philadelphia restaurants and working as a cashier at Wawa helped him understand that minimum wage is “not a livable wage.”

Carroll also worked in constituent services for State Sen. Anthony H. Williams (D., Phila.) and in the city controller’s office. He most recently served as an adviser to City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas’ 2023 campaign and as a field organizer for O’Rourke and Brooks.

Kinsey said he would have supported one of several other Democrats who had intended to run. That includes Johnny Patterson, who works in the health care industry and released a campaign video in January but did not submit paperwork to get on the ballot, according to Kinsey, or Selena Hodge, a Temple Health employee who suspended her campaign in February.

He said he would be open to speaking to Carroll about an endorsement, but that the conversation hasn’t happened.

The 201st District has long been represented by politicians from the vaunted Northwest coalition, a cohort of Black leaders who have wielded the influence of high voter-turnout communities, particularly in Philadelphia’s mayoral elections. Kinsey is a member, and Carroll is not, though he’s been endorsed by several Northwest ward leaders and Evans, who’s a leader in the coalition.

Patrick Jones, leader of the 59th Democratic Ward and president of the Germantown Community Alliance, said the district’s constituents have an expectation for their leaders to be outspoken and deliver results.

“Folks are expecting that when we have issues, we have leaders who go to City Council or go to the state House and bring back solutions,” Jones said. “Andre Carroll is stepping into that complex.”

Much of the 201st District includes so-called middle neighborhoods, working-class areas that are stuck between the extremes of poverty and wealth, and where residents are still struggling financially.

Carroll doesn’t have to look far for examples, such as rising housing costs.

Outside his campaign headquarters on Germantown Avenue, the closed Germantown High School, once “pivotal” to the neighborhood, will be renovated into mixed-use apartments — some with market-rate rents that Carroll said would be unattainable in a zip code where half of residents earn less than $33,000 a year.

“These folks are being overlooked,” Carroll said. Some are among the 4,300 people who voted for him in 2022. “If it wasn’t for those folks, I don’t think I would have done this again.”