After 44 years, Northeast Philly again chooses Brian O’Neill for City Council in competitive race

Brian O’Neill has represented Northeast Philadelphia in City Council for 44 years, and on Tuesday voters sent him back to City Hall for four more.

O’Neill, the only Republican on Council, defeated Democrat Gary Masino, who leads the sheet metal workers union, in the race for the 10th District, the only competitive district Council election on the ballot. His 12th term will begin in January.

At his victory party Tuesday night, he emerged from a backroom in the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 headquarters to a crowd of supporters chanting his name. The typically reserved lawmaker might not seem like the type for touchdown celebrations, but O’Neill, 73, did not hold back from trumpeting his significant margin of victory in the race.

“This is what it’s all about — being a team, being smart instead of stupid, being nice instead of not so nice,” he said.

O’Neill noted that crime was the driving issue in this year’s election, and pointing to the union hall where he hosted his election night watch party, he credited his win to the police union’s full-fledged backing, giving a special shoutout to outgoing police union president John McNesby. Union leaders gave O’Neill a clear promise early on, he said. “We’re going to war and we’re going to war together, and we’re not going to lose,” he continued.

The candidates each raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, and both aired ads on cable, a rarity in district Council races.

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Still, both men are moderates within their respective parties, and the race had little to do with policy differences. The two both said they supported increasing police patrols in the Northeast and wanted to focus on improving city services for the 10th District.

On the campaign trail, O’Neill touted his endorsement from the police union and his efforts over the years to maintain the Northeast’s suburban feel through zoning and development fights.

He attempted to tie Masino to District Attorney Larry Krasner because the sheet metal workers union donated to the progressive prosecutor’s first campaign in 2017.

Masino, 58, characterized O’Neill as an absentee Council member and said the Northeast has been neglected by City Hall under O’Neill’s watch.

At his election night party, O’Neill’s supporters countered that he has been a hands-on leader, and an effective development guard dog for a district that prides itself on being a suburban enclave within the city.

“He’s been our only hope for many years,” said Donna Enstrom, a Republican supporter and a civic leader in Parkwood. “The rest of the city can do what it wants, but we want to protect our own quiet.”

The 10th District includes the Far Northeast neighborhoods of Somerton and Bustleton, and is home to many police officers and firefighters. While a majority of voters in the district are registered Democrats, many split their ticket or vote for Republicans, and the district has long been one of the most conservative areas in the city.

O’Neill, a retired lawyer who lives in Crestmont Farms, held on for more than 40 years, largely by steering away from partisan politics and focusing on hyper-local issues.

His tenure was marked by a tendency to speak rarely in Council chambers while frequently attending Zoning Board of Adjustment meetings to vouch for neighbors or community groups that oppose development projects in his district.

Masino, who lives in Morrell Park, is a third-generation sheet metal worker, and his wife was in the electricians union. He said during the campaign that he would resign from his union post if he wins the Council race. Masino did not address supporters at his election night watch party and O’Neill said he had not called to concede.

O’Neill has survived challenges from Democrats before, and despite benefitting from decades of name recognition, he acknowledged during the campaign that Masino’s run was particularly threatening because of the amount of money he could raise from the trades unions.

In the end, it wasn’t enough.

O’Neill said he has no plans to retire and intended to complete a full four-year term, at which point he would have served on Council for nearly half a century. His victory Tuesday also saved the local GOP from total extinction on Council, as progressive candidates from the Working Families Party are poised to swing the two at-large seats long held by Republicans.

“I feel mentally and physically better than I did in my forties,” O’Neill said. “I feel blessed.”

Before he could finish his victory speech, the crowd erupted in another chant — a message he has heard from voters a dozen times before: “Four more years!”