State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams
The 2015 mayoral race is starting to take shape, with four major announcements this week alone from possible Democratic candidates.
Two of those announcements were scheduled for Wednesday.
Former District Attorney Lynne Abraham planned an afternoon announcement at the Franklin Institute.
State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams called on supporters to gather at the Independence Visitors Center for an early-evening announcement.
Another announcement came from City Controller Alan Butkovitz, who abruptly decided not to enter the race.
Meanwhile, Doug Oliver held a news conference on Tuesday to announce formation of an exploratory committee. A former spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter, his committee is DO2015. Though he had been viewed as a possible Republican candidate, he’ll run as a Democrat if he enters the race, since the GOP is vastly outnumbered in voter registration.
Those already in the Democratic race are former city Redevelopment Authority executive Terry Gillen and former city solicitor and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Trujillo.
Other possible Democratic candidates include former state Sen. Milton Street, former city solicitor and Common Pleas Court Judge Nelson Diaz, former Gov. and Mayor Ed Rendell and City Council President Darrell Clarke.
Potential Republican candidates include attorney and West Philadelphia ward leader Matt Wolfe, who is also eyeing a run for an at-large Council seat, and Kelvin Jeremiah, president of the Philadelphia Housing Authority. Others mentioned include Councilman Denny O’Brien and city elections commissioner Al Schmidt.
The primary is May 19. Nutter is in his second four-year term and is prohibited by the Home Rule Charter from seeking a third consecutive term.
Butkovitz, a Castor Gardens resident who served 15 years as a state representative before being elected controller in 2005, had been seen as a likely contender. He could have sought to become the first mayor from the Northeast since Edwin H. Fitler, who served from 1887–91.
Butkovitz sees a paralysis in the race, with some potential candidates and big-money contributors remaining on the sidelines, for now.
“Under those conditions, I don’t see a path to winning,” he said on Tuesday.
His path to winning centered on support from Clarke, labor unions and the business community.
“They’re all kind of circling around,” he said. “Labor hasn’t gone through their process.”
As Butkovitz looks at the race, he believes that super PACs, particularly on all sides of the education issue, could be influential.
Butkovitz sees Rendell as a top contender who would make a good mayor. Williams and Clarke would be strong candidates, in his view. He described Trujillo as a “wild card” who could win the primary or finish well back in the pack. He doesn’t see Street or Gillen as potential winners, nor does he consider Abraham a top-tier candidate, despite her 18 years as DA.
“I don’t think she has substantial support,” he said.
Butkovitz would have had to resign as controller to run. He would have tried to reverse a trend of former controllers who have failed in bids for higher office. That list includes Alexander Hemphill, Tom Gola, Bill Klenk, Tom Leonard, Joe Vignola and Jonathan Saidel.
Now, he’ll stay in a job that will enable him to push goals of fiscal prudence and good government.
“I love this job,” he said. “I appreciate the opportunities I have in this office.”
Williams has been the most active of potential candidates, traveling around the city for the last couple of years trying to win friends.
“I am running for mayor because we need to change the way we do business in Philadelphia,” he said on the eve of his announcement. “I am running to ensure we are one Philadelphia, where every neighborhood in the city has good jobs, strong schools and safe streets. And we need a new approach to addressing our challenges that isn’t beholden to the old ways of doing things, but is instead not afraid to think in a new way.”
Abraham has practiced law since leaving the district attorney’s office in 2010. She’s a partner at the Archer & Greiner law firm. She’s also lectured and stayed involved with the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation and the Vidocq Society, a crime-solving organization.
Abraham had been rumored to run in 1999 and 2007, and is now finally making a bid. She held a fundraiser at the Union League on Monday night and has a breakfast fundraiser planned for Friday at the Famous Deli.
“Lynne’s in it. She’s in it to win it. Now is her time,” said campaign adviser Eleanor Dezzi.
Dezzi said Abraham will talk about issues such as crime, taxes, jobs and education, and believes that her candidate can be the “best CEO” Philadelphia has ever had.
A Society Hill resident, Abraham spent some time on the most recent Election Day campaigning for successful state House candidate Mike Driscoll in a district based in Holmesburg and Torresdale. For Abraham to win the mayor’s race, she must do well in the Northeast, which was always kind to her in races for DA.
“I think she will do very well in the Northeast,” Dezzi said. ••
Lynne Abraham
Staying put: City Controller Alan Butkovitz, a Castor Gardens resident who served 15 years as a state representative before being elected controller in 2005, abruptly decided not to enter the mayoral race. TIMES FILE PHOTO
