Pols On The Street: Republican Council Battle Is Boon To Dougherty’s Hopes

by Joe Shaheeli

DEMOCRATIC Party Chairman Congressman Bob Brady looks on as Phila. Council AFL-CIO President Pat Eiding tells 1,000 attending annual pre-election gala at Sheet Metal of necessity to bring out vote.

The strategists behind the effort to ensure Judge Kevin Dougherty wins one of the State’s three contested Supreme Court seats know Philadelphia turnout is key.

What’s needed is voter turnout around 300,000. Based on past turnouts, voter participation in this general election can sink well below that, especially since most of this city’s voters believe the mayoral campaign has long been over.

But Judge Kevin Dougherty’s campaign can thank the GOP’s at-large City Council candidates for making a spirited run. It has garnered the attention of Democratic voters as well as Republicans.

He also owes a bit of thanks to the city’s more-liberal political factions. A group of progressives from diverse organizations has gotten together to attempt to elect two non-Democrats running for at-large Council seats, Green party candidate Kristin Combs and independent Andrew Stober, who served in the Nutter administration. Joining the charge are well-known activists like labor organizer Fabricio Rodríguez, attorney Kay Kyungsun Yu, health-care policy specialist Numa St. Louis, Arab community leader Marwan Kreidie and Asian community leader Andrew Toy.

The three Republicans running for Supreme Court are being targeted by separate negative ads from “Pennsylvanians for Judicial Reform”, a 527 independent-expenditure group backed mostly by plaintiff lawyers and organized-labor groups which predominantly support Democrats. Adams County President Judge Mike George is criticized as “too lenient” on sentencing (the ad cites two examples); Superior Court Judge Judy Olson is targeted due to her support from pro-life groups; and Commonwealth Court Judge Anne Covey’s integrity is questioned.

SUPREME COURT candidate Judge Kevin Dougherty was honored guest at fundraiser hosted by Tommy St. Hill at McCormick & Schmick’s. Among supporters packing event were, from left, Rasheed N. Odrik, former Councilman Frank DiCicco, host Tommy St. Hill, Judge Kevin Dougherty, Sultan Ashley Sharp and Monroe Lee.

In the meantime, each day new attention-getters are being posted by the candidates. Headlined this week is the fact Teamsters Union Local 830 endorsed Republican nominee Al Taubenberger for an at-large City Council seat.

Teamsters Local 830 Secretary-Treasurer Daniel H. Grace made the announcement, saying “Al Taubenberger is an accomplished businessman, a veteran of city government, and a decent, honorable man. City Council will benefit greatly from Al’s experience and wisdom. Al is also a friend of labor and Teamsters Local 830 is pleased and proud to endorse him in the upcoming General Election.”

Local 830 represents 2,200 Philadelphia members in the soft-drink and brewery industries.

Local 830’s strong backing is the third labor endorsement of Taubenberger in the last two weeks. The others are the Philadelphia Firefighters & Paramedics Union Local 22 and Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5.

SHARING moment at Kenney-Squilla fundraiser at Bliss were Harvey M. Levin, president of Keystone Appraisal Co.; Supreme Court aspirant Kevin Dougherty; and restaurateur Sid Booker. Photo by Bill Myers

The plus for Dougherty in all this is an anticipated much-higher turnout, at a time when every Philadelphia vote counts. Savvy Democratic voters know the victory of their five at-large candidates is preordained; the only citywide race in which their votes can matter is for the two seats reserved for minority-party and independent candidates. Therefore, some shrewd Democrats will cast votes to favor a couple of Republicans they find sympathetic – or even a couple of third-party and independent candidates.

The Dougherty campaign is also pressing for a larger Democratic voter turnout in the suburban counties.

McGinty’s Fundraising Casts Her As ‘Old Pro’

Katie McGinty made sure, when it came time to total what her campaign for US Senate pulled in for her first two months of campaigning, to donate $25,000 from her own money in the way of a loan, to insure she topped “the $1 million” mark.

She’s already successfully gone to where the fishing is fruitful, the Washington establishment.

McGinty’s D.C. contributors beyond Pennsylvania include:

Sen. Harry Reid’s Searchlight Leadership Fund – $5,000;

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s PAC Off The Sidelines PAC – $10,000; Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s A New Direction PAC – $2,500; Sen. Barbara Boxer’s PAC For a Change – $5,000; Sen. Jack Reed’s Narragansett Bay PAC – $2,500 and Sen. Brian Schatz’s Hawaii PAC – $1,000.

It’s a shame Gov. Tom Wolf lost her to the allure of becoming a US Senator. She might have refocused his handling of both chambers of the General Assembly.

Joe Sestak has always said he is not the establishment candidate. That doesn’t guarantee support from the more-progressive elements of the Party. PASNAP has switched its endorsement from Sestak to McGinty.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) raised $2 million in the third quarter as he prepares to defend his seat which Democrats plan to target next year. He is armed with $8.6 million in the bank. Again we suggest he turn to print media with some of his campaign ads.

SUPPORTING a labor-friendly Republican, State Rep. Martina White, for reelection is Local FOP President John McNesby, whose union helped deliver victory to White in special election for 170th Legislative Dist. long held by Democrats. McNesby said his union is behind her in next election as well. Seconding nomination are National Black Police Association President David Fisher and FOP Penna. State Lodge President Les Neri.

Budget Fallout Continues To Grow

The continued budget battle has caused Moody’s Investor Services to downgrade Pennsylvania’s general-obligation bond outlook to “negative,” citing the Commonwealth’s “extreme political gridlock.”

It has also seen charter schools striking back against suspended tuition payments with a statutory loophole of their own. Charter schools cut off from State subsidies during the budget impasse received a welcome infusion of gaming revenue this week — much to the dismay of Gov. Wolf’s administration as well as public school districts.

For the last two months, more than two dozen school districts reliant upon State aid have exploited a statutory loophole that allows them to reduce or suspend payments to charters until a budget deal is struck. But now some districts — without warning — have received only a fraction of their anticipated gaming-revenue payouts, with much of those funds having been diverted by the State Dept. of Education (as per state law) to pay charter-school tuition bills.

Raising Cain Over Kane

The debate continues with regard to how the suspension of her attorney’s license impacts Kathleen Kane’s ability to operate as Attorney General, and whether it precludes her from continuing on in that position. The Supreme Court, in its announcement of the suspension, said she can continue the administrative duties of her elected office. But she won’t be able to perform the full duties of her office.

Continued efforts to get her to resign, will only generate continued disgust from the voters, making them more apathetic toward doing their duty.

Democrats’ Dream Ticket Sans Hillary?

AT LEAST 70 fans of presidential contender Bernie Sanders packed 2nd floor of Gojjo restaurant in W. Phila. to cheer on their man at Democratic debate last week, a sign Sen. Sanders has strong base in this city. Phila. Sanders organizers included, from left, Hamdi Soysal, Larissa Mogano, Marcie Wood and Matt Hake.

Though Presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton scored well in the first Democratic national debate, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders generated a lot of enthusiasm even though he seldom laid a glove on the champ.

But two vice-chairs charged this week that DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz has been acting autocratically by and not consulting other party leaders about the skimpy presidential debate schedule.

After enjoying jaw-dropping success since June when he announced his candidacy, Trump is beginning to see some of his rivals making up ground, according to the latest Public Policy Polling report.

Trump leads the GOP field with 24%, with another Washington outsider, Ben Carson, riding Trump’s coattails to 23% in the poll. Though Trump heads the field, his 1% lead over Carson in Pennsylvania is the smallest he has had anywhere since July, according to the poll. In fact, Carson beats Trump 52-38 in a hypothetical head-to-head primary in the Keystone State. Carson has the highest favorability rating of any candidate, crushing Trump’s numbers with men and women, as well as the more-conservative wing of the GOP.

What GOP Voters Would Like To See

Pennsylvania GOP voters differ from their many candidates on several issues. Of them, 78% support background checks on all gun purchases, with only 12% opposed.

“The 2nd Amendment to our Constitution is clear,” Donald Trump wrote in an announcement of his gun policies. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed upon. Period.

“As a doctor, I spent many a night pulling bullets out of bodies,” Ben Carson wrote on Facebook after the Umpqua Community College shooting in Oregon. “There is no doubt that this senseless violence is breathtaking – but I never saw a body with bullet holes that was more devastating than taking the right to arm ourselves away.”

In this state, 53% of Republican voters also want to see the minimum wage increased to at least $10/hour – another unpopular idea among most candidates, with Trump telling MSNBC “having a low minimum wage is not a bad thing for this country.”

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