Evans defeated incumbent Chaka Fattah in the Democratic primary election for Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district, and won a special election on November 8, 2016, following Fattah's resignation from Congress after he faced corruption charges.

After graduation, he became a teacher in the School District of Philadelphia and a community activist for the Urban League.

His district, which encompasses West Oak Lane in Philadelphia, was heavily Democratic with a 95% African-American population.

Evans was elected as the Democratic chairman of the House Appropriations Committee in 1990[4] and served in that capacity until November 2010.

In 1999, in the race to succeed Ed Rendell, he finished fifth with 4.7% of the vote in a crowded primary won by John Street.

[10] In November 2015, Evans announced that he would run for Pennsylvania's 2nd congressional district in 2016 against Democratic incumbent Chaka Fattah.

Evans handily defeated Republican challenger Bryan Leib to win his second full term.

No Republicans ran for the seat, and Evans defeated Socialist Workers Party candidate Christopher Hoeppner with 95% of the vote.

[17] In August 2017, following the aftermath of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Evans and Representative Adriano Espaillat introduced legislation banning Confederate monuments on federal property.

[20] Evans has voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.

[27][28] In April 2022, Evans announced a $51 billion, seven-point plan to fight gun violence in Philadelphia and around the country.

[36][37][38][39] In 2021, Evans announced a $63 billion "Housing Is Essential" plan with Representatives Matt Cartwright and Mike Doyle.