West Vs. North: Who Will Rule The City Now?

by Tony West

In the Philadelphia Democratic mayoral primary, North Philadelphia beat West Philadelphia and City Hall beat Capitol Hill.

Jim Kenney … very well connected.

Jim Kenney, who quit City Council in January after 22 years of service at large, used an extensive network of citywide connections to put together a resounding win over the initial frontrunner, State Sen. Tony Williams (D-W. Phila.) Williams entered the race with a peerless war chest, leisure to run (he did not have to resign his Senate seat) and a powerful reputation he had inherited from his father and predecessor in office Hardy Williams, one of the leaders of the city’s civil-rights movement.

“Williams” was a name to conjure with – but only in West Philadelphia. All the other leading West Philly political clans, the Fattahs and the Blackwells, united behind him. But Tony could not gain a foothold across the Schuylkill in North Philadelphia, whose dominant factions look back to different founders: Bill Gray, John Anderson and the Streets.

Crucial to Kenney’s victory was the alliance his campaign early cultivated with North Philly powerbrokers, in particular the group centered on 9^th Dist. Councilwoman Marian Tasco and State Rep. Dwight Evans (D-N. Phila.) Eight years ago, this group put forward one of their own, Evans, for Mayor; he came in fifth out of five in 2007, losing to West Philadelphia’s Michael Nutter. Now North and Northwest Philadelphian politicos can expect improved access to the Mayor’s Office with Kenney in it, even though he personally comes from South Philadelphia.

Besides Fattah, Williams drew support from colleagues State Sens. Shirley Kitchen (D-N. Phila.) and Larry Farnese (D-S. Phila.) But Kenney left City Council respected by most of his peers and most of them will likely look forward to dealing with him as Mayor.

Williams did pick off endorsements from 2^nd Dist. Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, 3^rd Dist. Councilman Jannie Blackwell, 4^th Dist. Councilman Curtis Jones, Jr. and 7^th Dist. Councilwoman Maria Quiñones Sánchez. But he couldn’t crack the core of North Philadelphia, where he needed loyalty from Black voters that just wasn’t there. In the end, Council President Darrell Clarke of the 4^th Dist. and Councilwoman Cindy Bass of the 8^th Dist. went with their former colleague, and theirs are voices that matter. Although Bass comes out of the Fattah organization, she joined Kenney’s North-Northwest coalition. Another protégé of Fattah, State Sen. Vincent Hughes, lent quiet support to that group.

So Kenney fought Williams to a draw in Philadelphia’s two biggest African American regions. Williams took most West-Southwest Philly wards while Kenney took most North-Northwest wards. And since white voters are less likely to vote for Black candidates than vice versa, that left no path to victory in other wards for Williams in this race.

In the end, Williams could not walk N. Broad Street with a top municipal politician while Kenney could. And it is Kenney who became first in line for the top municipal office in town as a result.

Several advisors who helped launch Kenney’s campaign put critical planning into this strategy. One who can be cited is Henry Nicholas, president of the hospital union NUUHCE 1199C. He embraced Kenney as a former member of his own union and played a key role in deploying the net that snared North Philly for Kenney. But other leaders were involved as well. Expect them to step forward now – some noisily, some quietly – to claim their due for their causes and their turf.

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