Malcolm Kenyatta | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Kenyatta in 2022 | |
| Vice Chair of theDemocratic National Committee | |
| Assumed office June 14, 2025[1] Serving with Reyna Walters-Morgan, Artie Blanco, andJane Kleeb | |
| Chair | Ken Martin |
| Preceded by | Various |
| In office February 2, 2025 – June 11, 2025 | |
| Member of thePennsylvania House of Representatives from the181st district | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Curtis Thomas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1990-07-30)July 30, 1990 (age 35) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Matt Miller |
| Relatives | Muhammad Kenyatta (grandfather) |
| Education | Temple University (BA) Drexel University (MS) |
| Website | Official website |
Malcolm Kenyatta (born July 30, 1990) is an American politician from theNorth Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. A member of theDemocratic Party, he serves as thePennsylvania state representative for the181st district. He was the Democratic nominee forPennsylvania Auditor General in the2024 election, and in February 2025 was elected vice chair of theDemocratic National Committee.[2][3] In June of the same year, he along with vice chairDavid Hogg were removed from their positions pending a new election,[4] which he won uncontested.[5]
Kenyatta was born to Kelly Kenyatta and Malcolm J. Kenyatta, atTemple University Hospital in North Central Philadelphia. He has three adopted siblings. Kenyatta is the grandson of the civil rights activistMuhammad I. Kenyatta.[6]
Kenyatta earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in strategic communication fromTemple University and a Master of Science in public communication fromDrexel University.[7][8] During college, Kenyatta organized student protests against proposed education budget cuts by then-GovernorTom Corbett.[9][10]
During college, Kenyatta was also an avid poet and performer.[11][12] In 2008, with the help of theater professor Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon,[13] he founded the award-winning poetry collective Babel, which has twice won theCollege Unions Poetry Slam Invitational.[14]
Kenyatta completed aHarvard Kennedy School of Government three-week executive education program, Senior Executives in State and Local Government, as a David Bohnett Fellow in 2019.[15]
Kenyatta has been engaged in community affairs and politics since he was eleven years old, serving as the junior block captain with the Philadelphia Streets program.[16]
Kenyatta has worked as a community activist, specifically around issues of poverty, which he has called "the moral and economic issue of our generation." He worked as a political consultant on multiple state and local races, most notably as the campaign manager for lawyer and activist Sherrie Cohen,[17] the daughter of longtime city councilmanDavid Cohen, in her 2015 bid for thePhiladelphia City Council.
Kenyatta backedJoe Biden in the2020 Democratic presidential primaries and has been critical ofBernie Sanders.[18][better source needed] He does not support an immediate transition toMedicare for All, noting that he would support interim bipartisan measures instead.[19]Kenyatta supports abolishing the United StatesSenate filibuster.[20]
In 2016 and 2020, he was elected as a delegate to theDemocratic National Convention.[21] He was selected as one of seventeen speakers to jointly deliver thekeynote address at the2020 Democratic National Convention.[22] This made him,Sam Park, andRobert Garcia the first openly gay speakers in a keynote slot at a Democratic National Convention.[23]
Kenyatta was one of 20 electors selected by thePennsylvania Democratic Party to vote in theElectoral College forJoe Biden and his running mateKamala Harris in2020 United States presidential election.[24]
In April 2023, Biden appointed Kenyatta as chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans.[25]
In December 2017, Kenyatta announced his campaign for thePennsylvania House of Representatives[26] to replace the long-serving incumbentCurtis Thomas.[27] He won a five-way Democratic party primary election in May 2018 with 42.1% of the vote.[28] The night of the election, unidentified people set uphomophobic posters of him and his ex-husband throughout the district.[29]
Kenyatta won the general election in November against Republican opponentMilton Street with 95.3% of the vote.[30] The win made him one of the youngest elected state representatives in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the first openly LGBTQ person of color elected to either chamber of thePennsylvania General Assembly in the state's history.[31]
Despite running in the 2022 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Kenyatta also remained on the primary ballot for re-election to 181st district, for which he ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections.
On February 18, 2021, Kenyatta announced his bid for theUnited States Senate in the2022 Democratic primary.[32] He lost the Democratic nomination to Lieutenant GovernorJohn Fetterman, winning only 10.9% of the vote and also losing his home county.[33]
On March 8, 2023, Kenyatta announced his candidacy to bePennsylvania's Auditor General. Kenyatta was the first Democrat to announce a bid to challenge the incumbent Auditor General,Timothy DeFoor.[34] He defeated Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley in the Democratic primary election.[35] During the primary, Kenyatta faced criticism after he was caught on camera claiming Pinsley did not "like Black people."[36] His victory made Kenyatta the first openly gay man nominated by any major party for any statewide office in Pennsylvania.[37] Among his priorities, Kenyatta has stated that as auditor general he would create a bureau of worker safety and restart school audits that were transferred to the Department of Education by DeFoor.[38] He was defeated by DeFoor in the general election.
On February 1, 2025, Kenyatta was elected as a vice chair of theDemocratic National Committee, alongside gun control activistDavid Hogg, voting rights advocateReyna Walters-Morgan, and Nevada Democratic leader Artie Blanco.[39] In June 2025, he along with Vice Chair David Hogg were removed from their positions pending a new election in which both would have to compete for the same seat.[4] Hogg decided not to run again, which meant Kenyatta won the election uncontested.[5]
Kenyatta and his husband Matt live inPhiladelphia.[40][41] The documentaries "Going Forward" (2018) and "Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn" (2023) were directed by Timothy Harris and are about him.[42][43]
In 2017, Kenyatta was named as one ofPhiladelphia magazine's 38 "people we love" as a "neighborhood champ."[44]
Kenyatta was the subject of an award-winning documentary,Going Forward,[45][46] which followed his 2018 victory.
The Philadelphia Tribune called Kenyatta one of Philadelphia's most influential African-Americans.[47]
In 2020, Kenyatta was named an OUT 100 Honoree byOUT Magazine, their annual list of the most "impactful and influential LGBTQ+ people". In the same year, he was awarded theSen. Tammy Baldwin Breakthrough Award.[48]
On August 20, 2024, Kenyatta spoke at theDemocratic National Convention.[49]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Malcolm Kenyatta | 2,270 | 42.14 | |
| Democratic | Lewis Nash Sr. | 1,435 | 26.64 | |
| Democratic | Lewis F. Thomas III | 956 | 17.75 | |
| Democratic | Jason Alexander Deering | 422 | 7.83 | |
| Democratic | Gilberto Gonzalez | 304 | 5.64 | |
| Total votes | 5,387 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Malcolm Kenyatta | 21,382 | 95.32 | −4.68 | |
| Republican | Thomas Street | 1,050 | 4.68 | +4.68 | |
| Total votes | 22,432 | 100.0% | N/A | ||
| Democratichold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Malcolm Kenyatta (incumbent) | Unopposed | |||
| Total votes | 10,377 | 100 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Malcolm Kenyatta (incumbent) | Unopposed | |||
| Total votes | 25,258 | 100.0% | |||
| Democratichold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John Fetterman | 753,557 | 58.65% | |
| Democratic | Conor Lamb | 337,498 | 26.27% | |
| Democratic | Malcolm Kenyatta | 139,393 | 10.85% | |
| Democratic | Alexandria Khalil | 54,460 | 4.24% | |
| Total votes | 1,284,908 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Malcolm Kenyatta | 655,687 | 64.54% | |
| Democratic | Mark Pinsley | 360,182 | 35.46% | |
| Total votes | 1,015,869 | 100.0% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Timothy DeFoor | 3,489,296 | 51.13% | +1.73% | |
| Democratic | Malcolm Kenyatta | 3,134,631 | 45.94% | −0.36% | |
| Libertarian | Reece Smith | 122,975 | 1.80% | −1.25% | |
| American Solidarity | Eric K Anton | 20,976 | 0.31% | 0% | |
| Constitution | Bob Goodrich | 55,956 | 0.82% | 0% | |
| Total votes | 6,824,454 | 100.0% | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Keynote Speaker of theDemocratic National Convention 2020 Served alongside:Stacey Abrams,Raumesh Akbari,Colin Allred,Brendan Boyle,Yvanna Cancela,Kathleen Clyde,Nikki Fried,Robert Garcia,Marlon Kimpson,Conor Lamb,Mari Manoogian,Victoria Neave,Jonathan Nez,Sam Park,Denny Ruprecht,Randall Woodfin | Most recent |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forAuditor of Pennsylvania 2024 | Most recent |
