J.P Miranda leads race for 197th District, Jewel Williams trails behind

Candidate J.P. Miranda was leading in Tuesday's race for North Philly's 197th District with Jewel Williams –the daughter of former state representative and now Philadelphia Sheriff Jewell Williams –trailing behind.

Eighty-two of 84 precincts were counted for as of late last night. Miranda had 39 percent of the vote compared to Williams with 33 percent.

Miranda, who previously worked for City Councilman Darrell Clarke, state Sen. Shirley Kitchen and Mayor Nutter was confident that the remainder of the votes would be in his favor.

When PhillyClout reached out to Williams' campaign manager D.A. Jones shortly after 11 p.m., he said, "I don't have a comment right now."

"I knew we would prevail," Miranda said. "Our energy was focused. It was never a doubt in my mind we weren't going to win."

Tensions swelled as rival candidates accused Jewel and her father of trying to confuse voters about which Williams was running. Jones has said that Jewel was trying to capitalize on her father's legacy not confuse voters.

Miranda said he received support from ward leaders and local politicians like Kitchen.

"It's rare you have anyone go against a name brand," Miranda said.

Other candidates vying for the seat included Jamil Ali, a community activist and clinical supervisor at Girard Medical Center, Kenneth Walker and James Johnson.

Should Miranda remain the top vote-getter he will go on to face Republican challenger Steve Crum in the November election.

Meanwhile, ward leader Gary Williams beat former state Sen. T. Milton Street Sr. in a special election to carry out the final six months of Jewell's term.