February 19, 2021
Watch: Out Penn. State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta Announces Bid for U.S. Senate
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Out Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta has announced that he will seek a seat in the United States Senate in next year's midterm elections, NBC Philadelphia reports.
Kenyatta, 30, announced his intention to run in a Feb. 16 MSNBC appearance, telling The ReidOut host Joy Reid that "America succeeds because every generation steps up to protect and expand the promise of America" before adding that "so many working families whose lives were tough prior to COVID" have been left behind while the "pandemic has made those cracks even worse."
"America is really at a crossroads right now," Kenyatta told Reid. "I think that was made even more clear by what happened on January 6," when Trump-supporting insurrectionists attacked the U.S., Capitol and threatened lawmakers who were in the process of certifying Joe Biden's Electoral College win for the presidency.
Kenyatta followed up with a video posted to social media in which he references his own working class roots, and relates this his parents "struggled to make ends meet".
"I know what it's like to see an eviction notice," Kenyatta says in the video, "to work a minimum wage job. My first one was at the age of 12, working to support my family."
Kenyatta underscored his message of representing working people in comments made to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
"There are a lot of people who feel that knot in the pit of their stomach every time the Supreme Court is back in session, like, which one of my basic rights is gonna be potentially taken away?' " Kenyatta told the newspaper.
"I'm not gonna say things I don't believe," he went on to add. "I think government needs more real people."
NBC Philadelphia noted that Kenyatta is a "graduate of Philly public schools and Temple University" and that "was elected to serve as state representative for the 181st district (Philadelphia County) in 2018."
"He is also the first openly LGBTQ person of color elected to the PA General Assembly," the news channel notes.
Kenyatta's announcement follows the news that fellow out gay State Rep. Brian Sims will seek the office of Lt. Governor for the state. That post is being vacated by John Fetterman, a Democrat, who will also be running for the Senate seat that Republican Pat Toomey will leave open by not running for re-election in 2022.
The U.S. Senate includes several LGTBQ officeholders, but, if elected, Kenyatta would be the first gay U.S. senator of color.
Watch the clip from MSNBC's ReidOut by following this link.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
