Activist offered money to committeeperson and asked him to vote against Councilmember Cindy Bass in Northwest Philly ward, videos show

A progressive activist on Wednesday offered money to a Democratic committeeperson while attempting to convince that person to vote against City Councilmember Cindy Bass in Wednesday night’s 22nd Ward leader election, videos obtained by The Inquirer show.

The activist, Nate Holt, is a former 22nd Ward committeeperson working to support progressive candidate Octavius Price’s bid to unseat Bass from the party leadership post.

The 22nd Ward leader election has already generated considerable controversy. Wednesday night’s vote will be a redo of the contested initial election, which was last Monday.

The Inquirer last week published a separate video in which Bass declared herself the winner of the first election following a contested voice vote. That prompted the Democratic City Committee to order the vote being held at party quarters Wednesday night.

Both sides have been working to win over committeepeople in advance of the rerun.

In the new videos, Holt is standing on the porch of committeeperson James Harrison. Holt knocks, but Harrison doesn’t immediately come to the door. Holt then appears to shout to Harrison through a window.

“James, this is Nate. Nate Holt, tall white boy. I got your money, man,” Holt says in the videos, which are filmed from a car parked on the street outside the home. “Yo, you know me.”

Holt, who is not a committeeperson, at one point tells Harrison he’s “from the committee.”

Harrison eventually comes to the door.

“Yeah, so you know about this vote tonight? I have some money for you from the previous election,” Holt says in part. “We’re trying to get Cindy Bass out. ... Were you going to attend tonight, or do you want to sign a form so that somebody else can vote for you?”

It was not clear what previous election Holt was referencing.

At one point, Harrison says, “Where the money at?”

“Look, I’m going to give you 30 right now,” Holt responds in part.

The audio then becomes difficult to discern as the person shooting the videos — a 12th Ward Democratic committeeperson supporting Bass named Earl Graham — gets out of the car and ends the recording.

Graham confirmed he took the videos and said he went to Harrison’s house while also trying to win his support in Wednesday night’s election.

“I saw somebody at his house banging on the door saying, ‘Hey, I got some money for you,’” Graham said. “I just pulled over and just recorded.”

In a statement, Holt confirmed he “visited the house of a 22nd ward committeeperson” on Wednesday morning and encountered a Bass supporter.

He emphasized that he acted alone and did not approach committeepeople at the direction of any candidate.

Holt did not respond to questions about the money he referenced in the videos.

Ward leaders and the committeepeople that elect them are the neighborhood-based front line soldiers of the Democratic Party, working to get out the vote for party-endorsed candidates and field constituent services requests.

Bass was heavily criticized for her handling of the initial vote, in which she declared herself the victor after a contested voice vote and refused to honor requests for a roll-call vote that could have clarified the results.

Now Bass is saying it is her opponents who are using underhanded tactics.

“It’s very clear what the intent was of this transaction or attempted transaction, and I don’t even know what to say. I’m flabbergasted,” Bass said in an interview after viewing the videos Wednesday.

She added that the videos have been shared with the district attorney’s office election integrity unit.

Spokesperson Marisa Palmer said that, under the office’s policy, she could neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.

“The Philadelphia DAO takes seriously the democratic rights of the residents of Philadelphia and protects those rights even-handedly,” Palmer said.

A spokesperson for the DA’s office said, under the office policy, she could neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.

At his house Friday evening, Harrison on Friday evening declined to talk at length about the ordeal but said Holt did not give him any money.

“He ain’t give me nothing,” Harrison said. “He came asking me to sign for somebody else. … Everybody wants me to do what they want.”

Price on Wednesday said he was “saddened and outraged today when I learned of the video showing community member Nate Holt knocking on a [committeeperson’s] door, and offering him money in an attempt to get him to come to the door and participate in tonight’s election whether in person or by proxy.”

“I did not, nor did anyone on my campaign, advise Nate Holt to offer any committee person money in exchange for their support,” Price said in a statement. “We had no knowledge of his plan to do so. Nate Holt is not a committee person and we have since cut all ties with him. ”

Price also said he has “cut all ties with” Holt and that his “resolve remains stronger than ever ... to give voice to all those doing the work to build a stronger and more effective Democratic Party.”

The election will take place at party headquarters on Spring Garden Street, but committeepeople can vote by proxy if they sign affidavits giving their support to one side.

City Democratic Committee chair Brady said the committee had already planned to independently verify all proxies submitted at the meeting before the videos surfaced.

“Any effort to improperly influence these elections, financially or otherwise, is an affront to our democracy and our values in the party,” said in a statement.

In a statement, Holt confirmed he “visited the house of a 22nd ward committeeperson” on Wednesday morning and encountered a Bass supporter.

He emphasized that he is not a committeeperson and was not at the moment attempting to get Harrison to sign a proxy voting affidavit.

“I did not coordinate this visit to the committeeperson with anyone else, neither other committeepeople, nor any candidates for ward offices,” Holt said. “I acted alone. I am not currently a committeeperson. I am not voting in any ward election, and I have not collected any proxy votes for any candidate, nor handled any proxy vote forms either physically or digitally.”

But in the videos, Holt at one point explains proxy-voting to Harrison.

“You don’t have to go. You can just sign the form, and somebody else can vote for you,” Holt tells Harrison. “I can get you that form.”

Holt and Bass have history.

Bass in 2024 had the party remove Holt and several others as 22nd Ward committeepeople for allegedly backing Working Families Party candidates for Council. Party bylaws prohibit committeepeople from backing non-Democrats.

Holt has previously worked on a State House campaign for State Rep. Chris Rabb, a progressive who won last month’s high-profile race for Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District race.

Rabb said he was unaware of the incident Wednesday and declined to comment.