Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Six Democrats file petitions to run for Philly mayor

Six Democrats seeking to be Philadelphia's next mayor each filed well over the required 1,000 signatures on nominating petitions by Tuesday's deadline.

Philadelphia mayoral candidates (clockwise from top left) T. Milton Street, Lynne M. Abraham, Nelson Diaz, James Kenney, Anthony H. Williams, and Doug Oliver. (Staff photos)
Philadelphia mayoral candidates (clockwise from top left) T. Milton Street, Lynne M. Abraham, Nelson Diaz, James Kenney, Anthony H. Williams, and Doug Oliver. (Staff photos)Read more

Six Democrats seeking to be Philadelphia's next mayor each filed well over the required 1,000 signatures on nominating petitions by Tuesday's deadline.

State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams led the pack, announcing that his staff and volunteers had gathered signatures from 15,269 registered Democratic voters.

Former City Councilman James F. Kenney was not far behind, with 12,167 signatures.

Former Common Pleas Court Judge Nelson A. Diaz's campaign said he had 4,939 signatures.

Doug Oliver, Mayor Nutter's former press secretary, came in with 4,125 signatures, and former District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham had 3,624.

Former State Sen. T. Milton Street Sr., who ran for mayor in 2011 after serving 26 months in federal prison for not paying taxes on $3 million in income, filed 3,261 signatures for another run.

Street needed two tries to submit his signatures Tuesday. He was turned away the first time because he had not completed all of the paperwork necessary to become a candidate.

For City Council, four of 10 incumbents in district seats will face challengers in the primary.

Kenyatta Johnson (Second District) will face real estate developer Ori Feibush.

Jannie L. Blackwell (Third District) is running against Tony Dphax King, who attempted to run against Blackwell in 2011 but was removed from the ballot.

Maria Quiñones Sánchez (Seventh District) is running without party support. Democratic ward leaders in the district have backed Manny Morales, a committeeman in the 62d Ward, who resigned as a labor law investigator for the state Department of Labor and Industry to run for Council.

Councilwoman Cindy Bass (Eighth District) is being challenged by Greg Paulmier, who is leader of the 12th Ward and has run for the seat four times before.

Three Democrats are running for the Ninth District seat being vacated by Marian B. Tasco. They are State Rep. Cherelle L. Parker; S. Archye Leacock, founder of a North Philadelphia nonprofit; and Sabriya Bilal, who has run for the seat before. Republican Kevin Strickland, party leader in the 10th Ward, also filed.

The Council at-large race has 21 Democrats vying for five seats, one of them vacated by Kenney.

The incumbents seeking reelection are Blondell Reynolds Brown, William K. Greenlee, W. Wilson Goode Jr., and Ed Neilson.

Challengers include Frank Rizzo, former Republican councilman; Derek Green, a former Tasco aide; Tom Wyatt, a partner in the Dilworth Paxson law firm; Paul Steinke, former general manager of the Reading Terminal Market; Isaiah Thomas, adjunct professor; Jenne Ayers, daughter of the former fire commissioner; Sherrie Cohen, a lawyer; and Helen Gym, an education activist.

Two well-known real estate-minded candidates, Barbara Capozzi and Allan Domb, joined the at-large race at the eleventh hour.

The rest of the list is: Marnie Aument Louherty, a Kensington community activist who has run for Traffic Court; Billy Ivery, a retired city police officer; Karen Gordon, a West Philadelphia community and education activist; Carla Cain, a committeewoman in the 22d Ward; Wilson Alexander; Joseph Guerra; and Lillian Ford.

On the Republican side, Councilmen David Oh and Dennis O'Brien face five challengers: Dan Tinney, treasurer of the 66th Ward; Matt Wolfe, a former deputy attorney general; Alfred Taubenberger, a former Nutter challenger; James Williams, head track and cross-country coach at Cheyney University; and Terrence Tracy Jr.

The race for the three city commissioners' seats drew seven Democrats - Lisa Deeley, Dennis Lee, Donna DeRose, Tracey Gordon, Carol Jenkins, Omar Sabir, and Will Mega - to challenge incumbents Anthony Clarke and Stephanie Singer. One Republican, Ella Butcher, is challenging GOP incumbent Al Schmidt.

In the race to be a Philadelphia judge, 59 people filed to run for Common Pleas Court, all of whom also submitted their names to run for Municipal Court. Four candidates cross-filed as a Democrat and a Republican, which is allowed in the race.

Municipal Court has three vacancies and Common Pleas Court 12.