LOCAL NEWS: Ben Waxman Wins Endorsement of Gayborhood’s 5th Ward

Plus: The "Dining Out for Life" food-truck pop-up comes to the Gayborhood this Thursday.

Ben Waxman, a former state Senate aide, received the endorsement of the 5th Ward.

Ben Waxman, a former state Senate aide, received the endorsement of the 5th Ward.

State House candidate Ben Waxman wins a big endorsement in incumbent Brian Sims’s home ward.

The race for the 182nd District took a surprising turn after the 5th Ward’s leadership unanimously endorsed former state Senate aide Ben Waxman for state representative. The 5th Ward contains the Gayborhood, and its previous strong support of incumbent Brian Sims (who lives in the ward) makes this an upset for the incumbent. “I’m proud to have support from every part of the district, including the 5th Ward,” Waxman said. “If I’m elected, I promise to fight hard as an ally to the LGBTQ community, including preserving the unique character of our historic Gayborhood.” In a recent story with Philly Mag, Sims’s political consultant Dan Siegel argued that the 5th Ward “perennially endorses challengers,” with Sims even being endorsed by it when challenging then-incumbent Babette Joseph in 2012. Currently, Waxman is endorsed by two of the three wards in the district (he also was recently endorsed by the 8th Ward) and waits to find out whether the 2nd Ward will announce an endorsement as well.

Dining Out for Life is sponsoring a food-truck pop-up on Thursday to raise funds for HIV/AIDS research.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 14th, Dining Out for Life will host its 4th Annual Food Truck Pop Up on Locust Street between 13th and Broad streets. Participating food trucks include Chef Johnny Bravo’s Surf n Turf, Chewy’s, The Cow and the Curd, Cupcake Carnivale, and Farm Truck. All of these mobile foodie hotspots will donate 33 percent of their sales directly to funding education, prevention, and comprehensive support services to individuals living with HIV and AIDS throughout the Delaware Valley. Q102’s Casey Reed will be DJing for the first hour, and Project Runway designer Mondo Guerra will make a special guest appearance. This is one of the many ways Dining Out for Life is building anticipation for its epic charity dining event later that evening.