Jimmy Dillon

Jimmy Dillon (born January 15, 1979) is an American politician who is a Democratic member of the Senate of Pennsylvania. He was elected to represent the 5th senatorial district on May 17, 2022, in a special election to replace incumbent Democrat John Sabatina.^[1] He was formerly a School District of Philadelphia grant compliance monitor.^[2]

Jimmy Dillon
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate from the 5th district
Incumbent
Assumed office June 7, 2022
Preceded by	John Sabatina
Personal details
Born	(1979-01-15) January 15, 1979 (age 45) Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Residence(s)	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Education	University of Notre Dame

Early life and education

Dillon was born on January 15, 1979, in Northeast Philadelphia.^[3][4][5] He is a graduate of Holy Ghost Prep and the University of Notre Dame, where he played Division I basketball.^[4]

Pennsylvania State Senate

In 2021, Democratic State Senator John Sabatina was elected as a judge on the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia and resigned his seat on December 31.^[6] On January 10, 2022, Democrats selected Dillon's older brother Shawn as their nominee. Shawn later withdrew from the race after facing a legal challenge due to missing candidate filing paperwork and was replaced on the ballot by Dillon, a School District of Philadelphia grant compliance monitor.^[2][7]

A special election was held on May 17; Dillon won with 54% of the vote.^[8] He was sworn in on June 7, 2022.^[9]

On September 24th, 2024, Dillon was critized^[10] for multiple posts containing racist and homophobic slurs uploaded to the X account of his basketball coaching business, Hoops 24-7, several years ago.^[11]

The posts referred to a basketball player using a racial epithet and told a porn star to "come party with [them]."^[12]

References

1. "Special election slated for Pennsylvania 5th Senate district". AP News. January 8, 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
2. Brennan, Chris (April 4, 2022). "Northeast Philly ward leader drops out of special election for state Senate". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
3. "November 30, 2022". Senate Calendar. Pennsylvania General Assembly. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 4, 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
4. Waring, Tom (May 15, 2022). "Candidates continue to stump as election day nears". Northeast Times. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
5. "Senator Jimmy Dillon". Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
6. Brennan, Chris (2022-01-07). "Democrats in Northeast Philly face off for a special election, with more to come". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
7. Waring, Tom (2022-01-11). "Dems pick ward leader Dillon for Senate special election". Northeast Times. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
8. "2022 Pennsylvania State Senate - District 5 Election Results". May 17, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
9. "Senator Jimmy Dillon Sworn in to Serve the 5th Senatorial District". Pennsylvania State Senate. June 7, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
10. "Pennsylvania State Senator denies posting racist comments online". ABC27. 2024-09-24. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
11. Chang • •, David (2024-09-25). "Pa. Democratic Sen. Jimmy Dillon denies writing racist, homophobic tweets". NBC10 Philadelphia. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
12. "Pennsylvania State Senator denies posting racist comments online". ABC27. 2024-09-24. Retrieved 2024-10-14.

External links