Margo L. Davidson

Margo L Davidson (born September 27, 1962) is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing the 164th Legislative District since 2011. The district includes parts of Upper Darby Township, and the boroughs of East Lansdowne and Millbourne. Davidson ran as a Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district, despite not securing endorsements from either the Lansdowne or Upper Darby Democrats. Lansdowne Democrats actually endorsed the eventual primary winner, Mary Gay Scanlon.

Margo L Davidson
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 164th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 4, 2011[1]
Preceded by	Mario Civera
Personal details
Born	(1962-09-27) September 27, 1962 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Robert
Children	Nadar, Joel, Joshua, Rob
Residence	Upper Darby, Pennsylvania
Alma mater	Temple University

Early life and education

The oldest of three children, Davidson was born in West Philadelphia, where she and her siblings were raised by their single mother.[2] She graduated from the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts in 1980.[3] The first in her family to graduate college, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Temple University in 1988.[3]

Career

She began her career as a broadcast journalist, hosting a show on WDAS and often covering politics.[4] She also started two non-profit organizations: the Anti-drug and Alcohol Crusaders, which offers programs for children whose parents are struggling with addiction, and the African American Female Entrepreneurs Alliance, which focuses on small business development.[4] She worked on Barack Obama's presidential campaign during the 2008 election, traveling as far as Montana to work for the campaign.[2]

Davidson announced her candidacy for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives after longtime Republican incumbent Mario Civera was elected to the Delaware County Council. Civera eventually resigned his state House seat, and Davidson defeated Republican school board member Maureen Carey in the general election. She is the first Democrat, first woman, and first African American to represent the 164th district.[4]

Davidson assumed office on January 4, 2011.

Controversy

On October 28, 2016, Davidson was evicted from her campaign office in Lansdowne, Delaware County. The landlord filed suit demanding $2,796.77. He was awarded the judgement by a district judge in Upper Darby. Davidson filed a countersuit that was ultimately dismissed by the court.[5]

Davidson was charged in 2018 for two accidents while using a taxpayer-funded vehicle. The story went national after yc.news announced charges had been filed against Davidson for crashing her taxpayer-funded vehicle while leaving a political fundraiser February 3, 2018 in Concord Township, Delaware County.[6] After further investigation, yc.news discovered Davidson was involved in a second accident one month prior on January 11, 2018 where Pennsylvania State Police informed the media outlet that Davidson had fled the scene of the crash.[7] Shortly after the news broke, it was picked up by Philly.com and distributed nationally.[8] According to the Associated Press, Davidson was driving under a suspended license on all accidents involving the taxpayer-funded vehicle.[9]

On April 10, 2018, Pennsylvania State Representative Brad Roae and State Rep. Kristin Phillips-Hill proposed legislation to rid lawmakers of all state-lease vehicles, citing the two accidents Margo Davidson was involved in that year.[10]

Following the two accidents in her taxpayer-funded vehicle, yc.news released leaked documents on August 3, 2018 that indicated the Office of the Attorney General paid $12,000.00 to victims of a third accident but declined to make the documents public until after the primary election.[11] The couple originally filed suit against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Margo Davidson demanding $100,000.00.[12]

2010 election

PA House election, 2010:
Pennsylvania House, District 164

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Margo L. Davidson	10,083	53.65
	Republican	Maureen Carey	8,711	46.35
Margin of victory			1,372	7.3
Turnout			18,794	100

2012 election

PA House election, 2012:
Pennsylvania House, District 164

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Margo L. Davidson	17,240	66.6
	Republican	Earl Toole	8,649	33.4
Margin of victory			8,591	33.2	12.95
Turnout			25,889	100

2014 election

PA House election, 2014:
Pennsylvania House, District 164

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Margo L. Davidson	12,272	80.1
	Republican	Saud Siddiqui	3,056	19.9
Margin of victory			9,216	60.2	13.5
Turnout			15,328	100

2016 election

PA House election, 2016:
Pennsylvania House, District 164

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Margo L. Davidson	20,448	79.04
	Republican	Inderjit Singh Bains	5,423	20.96
Margin of victory			15,025	58.14	1.06
Turnout			25,871	100

2018 Failed Congressional Bid

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mary Gay Scanlon	16,804	28.4
	Democratic	Ashley Lunkenheimer	9,044	15.3
	Democratic	Richard Lazer	8,892	15.0
	Democratic	Molly Sheehan	6,099	10.3
	Democratic	Greg Vitali	5,558	9.4
	Democratic	Lindy Li	4,126	7.0
	Democratic	Theresa Wright	3,046	5.2
	Democratic	Thaddeus Kirkland	2,327	3.9
	Democratic	Margo L. Davidson	2,275	3.9
	Democratic	Larry Arata	913	1.5
Total votes			59,084	100.0

References

1. "SESSION OF 2011 - 195TH OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY - No. 1" (PDF). Legislative Journal. Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 2011-01-04.
2. Farrell, Joelle (2011-01-24). "Delaware County's Rep. Davidson blazed a trail of firsts". Philadelphia Inquirer.
3. "Margo L. Davidson". Pennsylvania General Assembly.
4. "Rep. Margo Davidson". Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
5. "EXCLUSIVE: State Rep. Margo Davidson EVICTED from Campaign Office – YC.NEWS". YC.NEWS. 2016-10-28. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
6. "State Police: State Rep. Margo Davidson can't perform her job .. on a suspended license". YC.NEWS. 2018-02-14. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
7. "Delco Rep. Davidson charged while driving with suspended license in taxpayer-funded car.. again – YC.NEWS". YC.NEWS. 2018-02-14. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
8. "Police: State Rep. Margo Davidson did 'hit and run'". Philly.com. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
9. "Lawmaker charged in hit-and-run with suspended license". AP News. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
10. "Proposed bill does away with state-funded vehicle leases for lawmakers". WPMT FOX43. 2018-04-10. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
11. "Pa. AG Office Demanded Settlement Documents of Margo Davidson Be Hidden from Media – YC.NEWS". YC.NEWS. 2018-08-04. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
12. "Couple suing Davidson and Pennsylvania for $100k following crash in 2015 – YC.NEWS". YC.NEWS. 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-08-05.