3 election rivals mull plan to ax incumbent
In Northwest Philadelphia, the big political question is whether "one on one" has any chance against the "Big D" lever in the November general election.
In Northwest Philadelphia, the big political question is whether "one on one" has any chance against the "Big D" lever in the November general election.
At the center of this is Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller, the 12-year incumbent who has won party renomination time after time with less than a majority of the primary vote and then swamped any Republican challenger.
Last May was a perfect example. Polling strongly in her base in Germantown and parts of North Philadelphia, Miller gained 31.6 percent of the vote in a district that stretches from Tioga to Chestnut Hill. Her three opponents divided up the rest of the vote.
But now, as the fall campaign nears its Labor Day start-up, Miller's three opponents - independents Rev. Jesse Brown and businessman Jim Foster, and Green Party candidate Brian Rudnick - are exploring the possibility of two stepping aside to allow for a one-on-one contest.
The time for getting a name removed from the ballot ended several weeks ago, but politically a candidate could throw his or her support to someone else. Miller has no Republican opponent.
Brown and Foster talked yesterday about the campaign and who would make a better opponent in November. Foster, a Germantown businessman and political gadfly in the Northwest, said he'd like to see the candidates campaign hard for about three weeks and then meet privately to decide who is best suited to challenge Miller.
Brown, who was removed from the at-large Council ballot in the spring for insufficient voter signatures, said: "These discussions have been going on for several weeks. How it will turn out is unknown at this point."
Rudnick says he wants to remain the Green Party standard-bearer but is willing to talk with the other challengers.
In the spring, there was much talk about winnowing the field but it never happened. Cindy Bass, a staffer for U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, placed second in the primary with 26.5 percent of the vote, followed by attorney Irv Ackelsberg with 25.3 percent and ward leader Greg Paulmier with 16.6 percent.
Paulmier and Bass said they're supporting the Democratic ticket in the fall, though Bass said voters in the Northwest Philadelphia district "should hear the candidates and then make up their own minds."
Marc Stier, a founder of Neighborhood Networks, a progressive political group with deep roots in the Northwest Philadelphia, said his group has endorsed Brown for the general election. Ackelsberg said he's supporting Brown, too.
But Al Stewart, who lost his Council seat to Miller in the mid-'90s, said he doubts an independent can overcome the straight-ticket voting Democrats in November.
A ward leader in Tioga and Nicetown, Stewart said he supported Miller in the primary and will again in the November election. The independent candidates "have to buck the machine, and I don't know how you'd do that. I can't see voters splitting their tickets," he said.
As for talk that the three candidates might try to winnow their numbers to create a one-on-one race with Miller, Stewart said, "I think if they wanted to take her out, they should have gotten together and picked one candidate for the primary."
Miller, who is on vacation, could not be reached for comment. *
