Evans was first elected to office in 1980. The district, which encompasses West Oak Lane in Philadelphia, was heavily Democratic with a 95% African-American population. As a result, he was reelected 12 more times against only nominal Republican opposition. Evans was elected as the Democratic Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee in 1990 and served in that capacity until November 2010. In 2010, the Philadelphia Tribune named Evans one of the 10 most influential African-Americans in the city.
Unsuccessful elections
Prior to his election to Congress, Evans ran for higher office four times unsuccessfully. In 1986, he sought the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor but finished third in the primary election to future Lieutenant Governor Mark Singel. In 1994, Evans became the first African American candidate to seek the office of Governor of Pennsylvania. In the Democratic primary election, Evans faced off with Lynn Yeakel and Lt. Governor Singel. He won endorsements from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. This time, Evans finished second in the primary with 22%. Evans made two runs for Mayor of Philadelphia. In 1999, in the race to succeed Ed Rendell, Evans finished fifth with 4.7% of the vote in a crowded primary won by John Street. In 2007, despite comments by Governor Rendell that Evans was the "best qualified" for mayor, he finished fifth again taking only 7.82% of the vote.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2016 special election
In November 2015, Evans announced that he would run for Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district in 2016 against Democratic incumbent Chaka Fattah. In an upset, Evans beat Fattah for the Democratic nomination–the real contest in this heavily Democratic, black-majority district–on April 26, 2016. He won mainly by running up his margins in his Olney-Oak Lane stronghold. Fattah later resigned amid a corruption scandal. As a result, Evans ran in two elections on November 8, 2016–a special election for the balance of Fattah's sixth term, and a regular election for a full two-year term. Evans won both elections and was sworn in on Monday, November 14, 2016. This led to Evans having more seniority than other new members who won the 2016 congressional election. The district has been in Democratic hands without interruption since 1949, and has been represented by black congressmen since 1959.
2018 Election
A court-ordered redistricting ahead of the 2018 elections renumbered Evans' district as the 3rd District. It lost its share of Montgomery County and was pushed slightly further into Philadelphia. Like its predecessor, it is heavily Democratic and majority black. Evans handily defeated Republican challenger Bryan Leib to win his second full term.
Crime In September 2018, Evans voted against HR 6691, the Community Safety and Security Act of 2018. The bill would amend the definition of "crime of violence". Within the definition of "crime of violence" is fleeing a police officer in a vehicle or on foot. Environment On September 24, 2018, Evans was rated 100% by the Clean Water Action group.
