Milton Street plans an independent run for Congress

T. Milton Street Sr., the Pennsylvania-state-senator-turned-federal-inmate-turned-two-time-Philadelphia-mayoral-candidate, has a new challenge in mind: Running as an independent for the House.

Street on Monday said he would run for the Second Congressional District seat in the Nov. 8 general election. He would face State Rep. Dwight Evans, a Democrat, and Republican James Jones.

Street, 77, said a formal announcement would come in two weeks. He must collect by Aug. 1 nomination petitions signed by 3,623 people registered to vote in the district, which covers parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County.

Street, who survived petition challenges to remove him from the 2011 and 2015 Democratic primary ballots for mayor, said he expected no problems gathering signatures.

Evans defeated U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah's bid for a 12th term in the four-candidate April 26 Democratic primary election. Fattah is on trial on federal bribery and racketeering charges.

"I don't have anything against Dwight Evans," Street said. "My issue is, he should have to work for the seat between now and November. I'm going to make him work."

Evans, 62, has served 36 years in the state House.

Street dismissed Jones as "not political."

"He doesn't understand politics yet," Street said. "I don't think he'll be forceful enough."

Jones, 60, runs a human resources consulting firm. He ran unsuccessfully for the Eighth District seat in 2010, winning 2.85 percent of the vote in a four-candidate Republican primary.

Democrats make up 81 percent of the registered voters in the district, while Republicans have about 9 percent and independents and smaller political parties hold 10 percent.

Street has migrated between political parties for more than three decades. He switched from Democrat to Republican after winning a state Senate seat in 1980. Voters ousted him after that term.

Street spent 26 months in federal prison for unpaid taxes on $3 million in income. He ran for mayor in 2011 while on supervised release, winning 24 percent of the primary vote.

Street won just 1.68 percent of the vote last year.

He switched his voter registration in January to Republican and said he would switch to independent when he starts circulating nomination petitions.

brennac@phillynews.com

215-854-5973

@ByChrisBrennan