Over career, Fattah has defied odds and opened doors

WASHINGTON - At just 25, Chaka Fattah became one of the youngest people ever to win a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

A dozen years later, in 1994, he was elected to Congress, defying Democratic leaders and ousting an incumbent from his own party.

"I fully intend to have an impact on national policy," Fattah said after his primary election victory over Rep. Lucien E. Blackwell.

In two decades on Capitol Hill, he has carved out a reputation as a wonkish legislator focused on big ideas, and an advocate for education and programs to help young minorities. Among Pennsylvania's current congressional delegation, only Rep. Michael Doyle of Pittsburgh has served as long.

But despite winning 11 successive terms, Fattah has been known as being somewhat distant from the political class. And at nearly every step in his career, Fattah had to push to move to the front of the line, at times in defiance of local Democratic leaders.

His run for the legislature opened doors for African Americans, said David Dunphy, a Democratic consultant in Philadelphia: "He showed people you don't have to wait your turn."

Even after Wednesday's indictment on corruption charges threatened to overshadow his long record, Fattah maintained the defiance.

Smiling as he arrived for a vote Wednesday, the 58-year-old representative joked to reporters that the announcement of his indictment was "a nice way to start the August break - it'll keep you all busy."

He again said - as he has during the long investigation - that he has done nothing illegal, and described the probe as "a very enthusiastic effort" by prosecutors. Typically, he responds to reporters' questions by asking why the media focuses on the investigation, not his achievements.

"It's not even disputed that programs that I've initiated have helped at least 25 million people," he said Wednesday. "We're going to keep trying to help people between now and when my innocence is proven."

For decades, he's been an unmistakable figure in Philadelphia's political landscape, and he took an unusual route to get there.

He attended Overbrook High School in West Philadelphia in the early 1970s and community college - but didn't graduate from either. He later participated in a certificate program at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, but he did not earn a college degree until getting a master's at the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Institute of Government in 1986.

His entry into public policy work came when he persuaded Tom Massaro to hire him as a special assistant in the city's housing department. Massaro liked that the party establishment didn't like the young Fattah.

"It told me that he had energy and integrity; he wouldn't take payoffs," Massaro said in 2006.

Fattah won office by building a vaunted turnout operation that helped him win despite opposition from party insiders. After serving in the legislature, he set his sights on Congress.

Fattah quickly landed a seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee, which oversees federal spending.

"He became very well-versed, by any kind of objective analysis, at accessing federal money for things that he cared about," said Ken Smukler, a longtime Democratic political consultant.

Smukler described Fattah as someone who arrived focused on big ideas rather than the parochial concerns that occupy most young lawmakers.

His signature achievement came when he wrote the 1998 law creating GEAR UP, a college preparation program for disadvantaged students. Fattah, the father of four children, still beams about the program. He even referred to it when asked about allegations that he improperly used campaign money to help pay off his son's student loans.

"It is true that I've helped millions of young people go to college," he quipped.

Fattah also developed a reputation as a smart lawmaker with a fascination with technology. He once wore Google Glasses to the House floor and has sent out photos of his attendance at major NASA events, such as the day a rover landed on Mars.

Fattah has lately turned his attention to neuroscience, pushing hard for funding for brain research. At an awards dinner last year honoring his work on the subject, he pointedly said he planned to keep working on the issue in Congress for another decade.

His reelections have come easy. But his run of campaign success ended when he floundered in the 2007 mayoral primary.

Fattah struggled then to raise money, a problem that prosecutors contend led him to accept an illegal $1 million loan and scheme to pay it back with federal and charitable funds.

Fattah says he obeyed the law - and will be back on the ballot next year. And he continues to tout his work to bolster education programs.

As he walked away from reporters Wednesday onto the House floor, he said: "We'll see what the facts are, all right?"

@JonathanTamari

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