Jim Kenney dishes out shade for Democrats who lost the primary for mayor
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney was talking legacy near the end of his second term when Clout asked about the Democrats who want his job. He didn't hold back.
We sat down with Mayor Jim Kenney recently to have a mostly serious discussion as he contemplated the end of his tenure.
But we couldn’t help but throw a few Clout-y questions his way.
Will you make a triumphant return to Twitter as @jimfkenney? (No.)
Where is the Rizzo statue? (“A secret location.”)
What was it like watching candidates for mayor diss you this spring?
That one sparked some fire.
“Well, Allan Domb basically ran against me,” Kenney fumed.
Fact-check: mostly true. Domb, a former City Council member who toyed with challenging Kenney in 2019, contrasted himself with the sitting mayor by running an ad featuring the infamous 2022 gaffe when Kenney said he was looking forward to not being mayor.
Suffice it to say that Kenney did not like that. He said the first time he saw it, he was in his apartment getting dressed for work.
“I see my face. I’m like, what the hell is that? And then I watched the commercial and I go — I won’t say what I said — but I was like, ‘you mother …’” Kenney trailed off.
(We can all guess where he was going with that.)
The mayor continued: “So he runs against me. And he came in fourth. So congratulations for three hundred and some dollars a vote. Great job.”
Domb, with politics behind him and his massive real estate and restaurant empire in front, declined to respond.
Kenney also offered some quick thoughts on the other Democrats who ran to replace him.
On Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker: “I voted for Parker. I supported Parker. I didn’t really appreciate any of the rest of them.”
On grocer Jeff Brown: “I thought that Domb and Jeff — Jeff never attacked me — were a bit naïve on what they could get done.”
On former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, whom Kenney often feuded with: “Rebecca just doesn’t — to me — was never a choice to me.”
Kenney then said “Who else ran?” and we had to inform him the other major candidate was progressive former Councilmember Helen Gym.
“Helen was fine,” he said. “She’s always been decent and respectful. She can get a little loud sometimes. But that’s good.”
Nikil Saval’s Pennsylvania Society squabble
Every Pennsylvania Society has at least one squabble that becomes the pervasive gossip of the glitzy weekend gathering of the state’s politicians held every December in Manhattan.
This year’s conflict: State Sen. Nikil Saval being barred — momentarily — from entering the late-night soiree thrown by the law firm Duane Morris at the Rainbow Room, the Art Deco ballroom and lounge with sweeping midtown views from the 65th floor of Rockefeller Center.
Saval and Duane Morris agree on one point: The democratic socialist from Philadelphia was eventually admitted to the party thrown by the firm, which has high-profile Democratic and Republican partners.
Saval insists he was temporarily barred from the party and threatened with ejection from the building because he signed a letter with other politicians calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.
The firm counters that Saval received an invitation but failed to reserve his spot at the party, which was already at capacity in a building with strict security about guest lists.
Alan Kessler, a partner at the firm who is active in national Democratic politics, told Clout he intervened when he heard Saval was being kept out.
Saval arrived at the party clearly upset and quickly recounted the dispute for Clout and others. Saval then repeatedly reached out to reporters and shared his story again with several people at the big Pennsylvania Society dinner Saturday night.
Kessler, who is Jewish, said he is not a fan of Saval’s position on a cease-fire. But he noted that the firm does not spend serious time and money on the party to make enemies in Harrisburg.
“Whatever happened, whatever he went through, we did everything we could to get him upstairs,” Kessler said.
Saval looped in Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa of Pittsburgh and State Sen. Vincent Hughes of Philadelphia, who served as intermediaries with the firm about his concerns.
Clout hears the Senate Democratic Caucus is arranging a meeting with the firm’s leadership to hash things out with Saval, who won his seat in 2020 and is up for reelection next year.
Butkovitz and the primary for state treasurer
Former City Controller Alan Butkovitz is in the hospital, recuperating from bypass surgery after a heart attack last week. It sounds like that — maybe? probably? absolutely? — will put an end to his brief run in the Democratic primary for state treasurer.
Bob Brady, chair of Philadelphia’s Democratic City Committee, said Butkovitz told him he was withdrawing from the race.
But Butkovitz, 71, told Clout that he needs more time to ponder his next move.
“My doctor told me — ‘Don’t talk about politics,’” Butkovitz said from his hospital bed. “My political people told me — ‘Don’t talk about politics.’”
There are plenty of party events upcoming that are critical platforms for statewide candidates.
Butkovitz, who served three terms as a state representative and three terms as city controller, said he feels pressured to make a call on his candidacy.
“I can’t get a day off for my heart attack?” he asked. “Is that fair?”
Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics.