Pa. Dems say State Rep. Kevin Boyle is ‘seeking help’ after outburst at bar

Pennsylvania House Democratic leaders said Friday that State Rep. Kevin Boyle is “seeking help” after a video circulated on social media of an outburst at a bar.

“We are aware of a video circulating on social media. It is very troubling,” State Rep. Matt Bradford, the House majority leader, said in a statement. “Rep. Boyle has been open about his personal challenges. We are encouraged that our colleague and dear friend is seeking help.”

In the video, Boyle appears drunk and yells at bar staff that he’ll “end this bar.” It was not clear when the video was recorded, but the incident appears to have taken place at Gaul & Co. Malt House in Rockledge, Montgomery County.

The voice of a woman responds at one point: “Listen, you just drank a little bit too much, just go home.”

Neither Boyle nor employees at the bar responded to requests for comment Friday.

Boyle, 44, has represented his Northeast Philadelphia House district since 2011. The Democrat has been open in the past about his struggles with mental health.

He was arrested and charged with harassment in September 2021 after showing up at his ex-wife’s house, violating a protection from abuse order she’d filed against him. Boyle later said in a letter to constituents that he was struggling with psychosis at the time of the incident. The charges were dropped, according to court records, and his record had since been expunged.

The recent bar incident could have a significant political impact on the closely divided House, where Democrats have held a one-seat majority for the past year.

In recent months, Boyle has been noticeably absent from public appearances. He hasn’t tweeted from his official account since September, despite previously posting frequently. He also missed several session days at the end of 2023, including three of nine session days in October and all three session days in November, according to attendance documents obtained through an open records request for attendance from January through November 2023.

Nominating petitions that candidates must file to appear on the ballot in the April primary are due Tuesday. Boyle had not yet filed petitions as of Friday afternoon.

Only one candidate — Republican Aizaz Gill — has filed to run for the 172nd Legislative District as of Friday, according to the Department of State’s candidate database.

Boyle, the younger brother of U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, flipped the Northeast Philadelphia seat from Republican control at age 30 — without the support of many in his own party — by beating Republican Rep. John M. Perzel, a former House speaker who was embroiled in a corruption scandal.

His district is one Republicans could be eyeing to regain in November. About 59% of the district’s registered voters there are Democrats, while 28% are registered Republicans and 13% are independent. That’s just a slightly more advantageous breakdown for Democrats than exists in Philadelphia’s lone Republican-represented district, led by State Rep. Martina White.

Several local officials said they were unaware of what was going on with Boyle, and what type of help he was receiving.

Bob Stewart, chief deputy register of wills for the city, ran against Boyle in the 2022 Democratic primary and had not been planning on running again this year. But after seeing the “very upsetting” video of Boyle struggling, he said he wants to make sure Democrats have a candidate on the ballot and would run if needed.

“If he’s gonna pull out, I would run out of duty to my neighbors,” Stewart said.

Boyle and his brother have a political profile and family story well known in Philadelphia. Their dad immigrated to the U.S. from Ireland and worked as a union SEPTA janitor. Their mother worked as a school crossing guard. Both developed a relationship as young politicians unafraid to go up against the party establishment.

A 2017 Philadelphia magazine feature on the brothers described them as the “scrappy Irish Catholic boys from Olney,” and held them up as a model of how Democrats could win back the white working-class voters after former President Donald Trump’s election.

In Spring 2020, 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 a mental health crisis that year started to unravel his personal life and his political career. He had social media outbursts unfamiliar to friends and colleagues, he was removed from his position as House Finance Committee chair and his access to the Capitol was limited. The series of unusual events culminated in the September 2021 arrest.

Then-Gov. Tom Wolf called for Boyle’s resignation as did House Republican leaders.

House Democratic leadership, led by then-House Minority Leader Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) and Bradford, stood by him at the time. They said in a statement then that the leadership was “thankful” Boyle has agreed to undergo evaluation and treatment for “ongoing mental health challenges” and said, “Our thoughts and prayers are first and foremost with Rep. Boyle’s wife and two young children.”

Boyle, in a letter to constituents ahead of the 2022 primary, attributed the incidents to psychosis, which he said in the letter he believed was caused by an adverse reaction to the Adderall he was taking for ADHD. (There is some research that shows a relationship between psychosis and Adderall usage, but it is relatively rare.)

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

Boyle said in the letter his life was saved after his arrest and subsequent treatment at a mental health facility. “I am very, very lucky. I now understand, in a personal way, that a mental health problem can develop in any person.”

Boyle went on to be reelected to his seat, beating Stewart in the spring of 2022 and winning the general election.

He chairs the insurance committee and had focused in the last year on a series of bills related to increasing access to mental health treatment.

Bradford said Friday in his statement that the caucus’ commitment to delivering mental health services, “does not stop at the Capitol Steps.”

“One of the main reasons we advocate so strongly for mental health access is the reality that challenges can and do happen to anyone, and seeking treatment should be encouraged, not stigmatized,” Bradford added.