Warrant issued for Pennsylvania state Rep. Kevin Boyle's arrest

PHILADELPHIA — A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Pennsylvania state Rep. Kevin Boyle, Philadelphia police said Tuesday, after Boyle allegedly violated a protection from abuse order.

Boyle, 44, a Democrat seeking an eighth term in next week’s primary election, was expected to be charged with violation of a PFA by communication, said Police Department spokesperson Eric Gripp.

The arrest warrant is the latest development in Boyle’s challenging reelection bid, as top Democrats support his primary opponent and have voiced concern about his mental health.

House Democrats poured $72,000 into the campaign of Boyle’s campaign challenger Sean Dougherty, according to campaign finance reports filed last week. His state Capitol security access was revoked in February, following an outburst at a Montgomery County bar that circulated on social media, and he was also stripped of his committee chairmanship. Leaders have not called for him to resign.

The outburst, at Gaul & Co. Malt House in Rockledge, occurred a few days before the deadline to file paperwork to appear on the primary ballot, and House Democratic leaders said at the time that their colleague was seeking help. Democrats scrambled to recruit Dougherty to run in his place, but Boyle still submitted his petitions and will appear on the ballot. The House Democratic Campaign Committee and top Democratic leaders are supporting Dougherty over Boyle in next week’s primary.

House Majority Leader Matt Bradford, a Montgomery Democrat who is close friends with Boyle, said in an interview last week he “wholeheartedly supports” Dougherty’s campaign and that he had concerns for Boyle’s mental health.

“I love Kevin Boyle, and I want him to get the help he needs,” Bradford added, tearing up. “They’re not mutually exclusive. It breaks my heart to see him this way.”

Boyle, who represents part of Northeast Philadelphia, has been open about his struggles with his mental health in recent years. In 2021, he was arrested for harassment and violating a protection from abuse order filed by his ex-wife, which was later expunged. He said in a 2022 letter to constituents that he was having a psychotic episode at the time of his arrest and his life was saved after subsequent treatment at a mental health facility.

Boyle is the younger brother of U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa. The Boyles made themselves into a political powerhouse over the last decade, in part, by retelling their life story: Their dad immigrated to the U.S. from Ireland and worked as a union SEPTA janitor and their mother worked as a school crossing guard. They both stepped into politics at a young age, unafraid to go up against the party establishment.

In 2020, Kevin Boyle had a prominent position in Harrisburg as minority chair of the powerful state government committee. He was responsible for two enormous issues confronting the state: COVID-19 restrictions and response, and the 2020 election.

But in 2021 as he struggled with his mental health, he was removed from his position as a committee chair and his access to the Capitol was limited.

“Family and friends could tell that I was starting to act differently, that my mental health was in decline,” Boyle wrote in his 2022 letter to constituents. “But I couldn’t see it myself. I lost touch with reality and suffered from paranoid delusions.”

“I am very, very lucky,” Boyle added in the letter. “I now understand, in a personal way, that a mental health problem can develop in any person.”

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(Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer Julia Terruso contributed to this story.)

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