November 11-17, 2004

political notebook

by Mary F. Patel

Election Day Redux

While Democrats across the nation rue John Kerry's loss, their local peers fared considerably better by taking two of three state row offices while also keeping a Democrat in the 13th Congressional District. Still, they weren't able to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter.

Despite their hope that Democrat Joe Hoeffel would benefit from a big party sweep across the state, many voters split their ticket and went for the 20-year incumbent. It came as little surprise to most that Specter garnered a heavy crossover vote, what with more than $2 million in the bank and a gaggle of Dems actively campaigning for him.

One of the more surprising Democratic backers was consultant Maurice Floyd, who worked with the Philadelphia Black Clergy and other minority groups to get out the Specter vote.

"Specter made some deep cuts into Democratic votes across the city," Floyd said. "Specter got a lot of votes in black wards."

While that may be true, Renee Amoore, who is deputy chair of the Republican State Committee, state chair of the New Majority Council, and state communications chair for Bush/Cheney '04, said Republicans were pleased with the double-digit percentage of black, Hispanic and women voters who backed Bush.

"They all heard the president's message," said Amoore, who is heading out to Hawaii to attend Gov. Linda Lingle's International Women's Leadership Conference. Oprah Winfrey and Diane Sawyer are also expected to be there.

Democrat Bob Casey Jr. will bring his staff from the Auditor General's to the Treasurer's Office. He defeated Craige Pepper who, despite her abilities as a financial advisor for Merrill Lynch, suffered from a lack of name recognition. Pepper, who married businessman Michael Victor in July, says her current plans include finally taking her honeymoon.

Meanwhile, Casey will hand his office keys over to Democrat Jack Wagner. Wagner, who was Casey's running mate in his losing quest for the governorship in 2002, beat Republican Joe Peters who, despite an impressive record, also had little-to-no name recognition.

The lone GOP bright spot was the victory of Tom Corbett, from the western part of the state, who beat local Democrat Jim Eisenhower for attorney general. Though he suffered from Philadelphia-phobia on the part of many voters across the state, Eisenhower has yet to concede. He's waiting for all of the provisional ballots to be counted—even though he's down about 120,000 votes.

Allyson, Thy Aim is True

While some Democrats were annoyed at Hoeffel for vacating his 13th Congressional seat to run for the U.S. Senate during a crucial presidential election, Democrats retained the seat as Allyson Schwartz handily beat Republican Melissa Brown. Schwartz will vacate her 4th Pennsylvania Senate District seat before she's sworn into Congress on Jan. 3.

Aides in her two offices say it will be business as usual for constituents until a special election is held to fill the vacancy.

Schwartz was last re-elected in 2002 and her seat would have been up for grabs in 2006. Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, who oversees the Senate, will decide when a special election will be held to replace Schwartz. Knoll deputy Sal Sirabella said his boss has 10 days after Schwartz vacates to make a decision and no more than 60 days to schedule the special election.

Among the names being bandied about as possible Schwartz replacements are state Rep. LeAnna Washington, Montgomery County Commissioner Ruth Damsker, and Cindy Bass, a special assistant to U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah. District insiders say Fattah will back Bass much in the same fashion as he helped Blondell Reynolds Brown win a City Council at-large seat, while state Rep. Dwight Evans and councilwomen Marian Tasco and Donna Reed Miller will support Washington, who confirms she's going to run.

What's Up Next?

Next year does not promise to be the most active politically, with only the offices of district attorney and city controller on the block as well as a few local judgeships.

District Attorney Lynne Abraham is seeking re-election and will most likely be challenged in the Democratic primary by former Assistant District Attorney Seth Williams.

It is also a big possibility that City Controller Jonathan Saidel will not seek re-election so he can finish out his term and prepare for a 2007 run for mayor. The two Democrats itching to replace him, should Saidel take the plunge, are former Common Pleas Court Judge John Braxton and state Rep. Alan Butkovitz.

Braxton had a big fund-raiser last month for himself, while Butkovitz, a 14-year House member representing the Northeast, said he has always been interested in the controller's seat.