Tally Oh (No)!

by Mary F. Patel

Has the lone undecided City Council at-large race reached a conclusion? Yes, according to a Monday afternoon press release from incumbent Councilman Jack Kelly's camp. The advisory, sent out by spokesman Frank Keel, stated that Kelly would be holding a 3:30 p.m. press conference to "declare re-election victory over Republican Challenger David Oh."

"The final, uncertified tabulations will be made this afternoon by the Election Court judges," Keel wrote. "Kelly holds a 137-vote lead over Oh."

However, technology apparently wanted to see the whole issue last at least another day. Just before 3 p.m., the press conference was postponed, according to Keel, "due to an Election Court computer crash. Provided that the computers are back up Tuesday, we will attempt to reschedule" a press conference for Tuesday afternoon. (That event was to be held after this issue went to press.)

Election judges struck 430 of the 1,500 provisional ballots left to count for various reasons and the remaining votes were to be tabulated electronically. Now, with failed machinery, it is not clear when the final count will occur.

Motions by attorneys to manually count the ballots were denied by the court.

With both candidates vying for one GOP at-large seat — Frank Rizzo handily reclaimed the other seat available to the minority party — the race was too close to call on Election Day. (At one point, Oh held a single-digit lead.) The counting began two days later, on Nov. 8, with some 2,400 absentee, provisional and alternative ballots being scrutinized by Kelly, Oh and their respective attorneys.

As the incumbent, Kelly had the party's support while Oh tried to court more Center City liberal votes while not appearing too Republican. Since the city commissioners must ratify election results, the pressure was on for the count to be completed.

Republican Regrouping

Local Republicans weren't even a factor in the mayoral race, but that's not stopping them from trying to take key statewide positions. Last Thursday, hundreds of GOPers from across the state gathered at the Union League for a fundraiser for Tom Ellis who, with $150,000 cash on hand, is running for state treasurer. The seat, which is up next year, was formerly held by Democrat Bob Casey, who won a U.S. Senate seat over incumbent Republican Rick Santorum last year. (Santorum now pens an Inquirer column.) Gov. Ed Rendell appointed Robin Wiessmann, wife of supporter Ken Jarin, to serve as the interim treasurer. Weissman was confirmed by the state Senate with the condition that she would not run for the seat next year.

Democrats running for treasurer are John Cordisco, chairman of the Bucks County Democrats and Rob McCord, a venture capitalist who is chairman of the Eastern Technology Council, who has raised more than $1.5 million for his own campaign.

Earlier this year Ellis, an outgoing Montgomery County commissioner, lost the Republican endorsement to serve another term to Bruce Castor and Jim Matthews. Castor is the county district attorney, an office he will leave at year's end. Matthews, who lost last year's lieutenant governor race, was re-elected to his commissioner's seat. The Democrat who won a commissioner's seat is Joe Hoeffel.

Ellis, a bond attorney at Ballard Spahr, is expected to receive the nomination for treasurer from the Republican Committee. Supporters at Ellis' event included fundraiser Bob Asher, Republican City Committee Chairman Vito Canuso and Ken Davis, chairman of the Montco Republican Party. But with all the energy devoted to a statewide race, what are the local Republicans saying about their party's future?

"This year's race for mayor does say a lot about our city. It suggests that Philadelphia voters are ready for change," said Al Schmidt, deputy director of the Republican City Committee. "And when the Michael Nutter administration fails to deliver on its promises and brings more of the same, we will be waiting in the wings to offer Philadelphians meaningful change for the better."

Paraphrasing Mark Twain, Schmidt continued, "The report of our [political] demise is greatly exaggerated. The Republican Party in Philadelphia can't die while it's got the Republican City Committee for its backbone. We may lose a round or two in this fight, but we will answer to the bell every time."

Schmidt said the party is building on its successful registration initiative and recruiting candidates for 2008 and 2009. "While we have the best ward leaders in the city, we will further invest in improving our organization's overall effectiveness," he said.

This and That

Despite a steady rain, a Monday morning ceremony at the Cira Centre South launched the first phase of construction for the mixed-use development that will replace the current U.S. Post Office Truck Terminal Annex with a high-rise tower including offices, hotel, residential, parking and retail. Along with the renovation of the historic Post Office Building, the projects potentially represent some $800 million in development. Developed by Brandywine Realty Trusts on land owned by the University of Pennsylvania, Cira Centre South should be completed at the end of 2010.

(rcpatel@aol.com)