Chaka Fattah
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 Member of the Pennsylvania Senate from the 7th district In office January 3, 1989 – August 31, 1994 Preceded by Freeman Hankins Succeeded by Vincent Hughes Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 192nd district In office January 4, 1983 – November 30, 1988 Preceded by Nick Pucciarelli Succeeded by Louise Bishop Personal details Born Arthur Davenport (1956-11-21) November 21, 1956 (age 58) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Political party Democratic Spouse(s) i) Michelle Fattah ii) Renee Chenault-Fattah Children Frances Fattah Cameron Fattah Chandler Fattah Chaka Fattah Jr. Residence Philadelphia Alma mater Community College of Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Occupation Legislator Religion Baptist Chaka Fattah (born Arthur Davenport; November 21, 1956) is the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district, serving since 1995. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served in the Pennsylvania Senate and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The district includes portions of North Philadelphia, South Philadelphia, and West Philadelphia along with Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County. In late August, Fattah's longtime aide and close confidante Gregory Naylor pleaded guilty to federal charges in a complex money laundering scheme used to hide an illegal million dollar loan that a currently unnamed candidate received for his failed mayoral campaign in 2007 and then paid back using federal grant money intended for nonprofit organizations that Fattah is affiliated with. While Fattah is not specifically named in the so far released documents, the politician described in them challenged campaign fundraising limits in a lawsuit. Since Fattah is the only 2007 mayoral candidate to file such a lawsuit, and since Naylor was his aide at that time, it is clear that the candidate described in the documents is Fattah. A subsequent Philadelphia Daily News investigation revealed that nonprofits receiving federal funding and connected to Fattah paid out over $5.8 million to Fattah allies and alleged that many of these payments are ethically dubious.