Welcome to Pennsylvania, the Land of Gubernatorial Progressiveness!
It's starting to seem that way, isn't it? Right here in the same state where former Pittsburgh Steeler Lynn Swann ran in the Republican Gubernatorial Primary in 2006, four years later, Anthony Hardy Williams, an African-American state senator is now a candidate for governor, as a Democrat.
It almost makes you forget that in the entire history of the United States of America, only two African Americans--Deval Patrick, in Massachusetts, and Doug Wilder, in Virginia, in 1990--have ever been ELECTED governor of a state.
But, somehow, Pennsylvanians seem to have gotten comfortable with the concept. Mr. Williams is one of the leading Democratic candidates for all the right reasons--he's running a smart, professional campaign, he's raised a great deal of money in a short period of time, he has a proven track record as a state-level elected official, he's been endorsed by his party, and he just happens to have a portfolio of good, workable ideas, at a time when the state is sorely in need of them.
It seems as though the only thing that might derail Senator Williams' "train" is the fact that Philadelphia has had a long tradition of meager turnouts in “mid-term” primary elections. In fact, in the 2006 Primary, with Ed Rendell running as a Democrat and Swann running as a Republican, less than 10 percent of Philadelphia's registered voters showed up on Election Day. The fact that 61.5 percent of Philadelphia voters turned out in the 2008 Presidential Election, showed that they can, when they want to.
In places such as Arizona, New York, Illinois and Massachusetts, the gubernatorial elections are the source of nightly, national news coverage. People are rumbling and the political fur is flying.
Not here.
Philadelphia media, and the voters, themselves, have been largely disinterested in the four-way Democratic Primary. Even worse, the candidates in the Republican Primary, Tom Corbett and Sam Rohrer, have been notable only in how carefully they have both managed to avoid talking at all about any issues that impact directly upon the state's 1.3 million African-American residents.
But, there's more than the Governor's Office at stake on May 18.
In the Lieutenant Governor’s race, for example, there are actually nine Republican candidates on the ballot (wow!); secondly, Jonathan Saidel, the back-slapping, smack-talking, former Philadelphia City Controller, is running for the office on the Democratic side, with the support of his Party, in the eastern part of the state, and, third, there’s actually a black woman running as a Democrat for Lieutenant Governor – former Commonwealth Court Judge Doris Smith-Ribner. Smith-Ribner thought, for awhile, about running against Arlen Specter in the U.S. Senate Democratic Primary, but had a change of heart in December. As is her style, she’s been keeping an exceptionally low profile.
The City’s U.S. Congressmen-- Brady and Fattah-- are both unopposed in the Primary, so there’s not much conversation about those seats. At the same time, black folks can't seem to get comfortable with a notably low-key, former military guy named Sestak, with no previous profile in our community, who is challenging "newly Democratic" Arlen Specter. Black Philadelphians remember that--even when he was a Republican – Specter always managed to maintain a strong presence and a responsive staff in the black community.
If black folks show up in substantial numbers, at all, on election day, Arlen Specter should have no problem with the Philadelphia vote, and that should go a long way to boost his prospects statewide.
Out of the 28 Philadelphia–related State House seats that we reviewed, the incumbent is running unopposed in17 of them. That means that in more than 60 percent of Philadelphia’s State Representative Districts, comprising about one million residents, the incumbent-- Democratic or Republican, black or white-- has no opponent.
Hey, either the incumbents are doing an extraordinary job (and a number of them are), the potential challengers in those districts simply don’t have the courage to run against a strong incumbent, or the system, itself, is broken. In my opinion, even when an incumbent is doing an excellent job, the need to compete against strong challengers during each election cycle helps them to raise their “game” to the next level, and drives them to work even harder on behalf of their constituents.
On the subject of long-term incumbents who do have challengers, but who have clearly earned an opportunity to return to office, I would certainly count Black Caucus Chair Ron Waters (191st), Jewell Williams (197th), John Myers (201st), Babette Josephs (182nd), Curtis Thomas (181st) and Angel Cruz (180th), Pennsylvania's only Hispanic State Legislator. I just hope the people in Cruz’s district don’t confuse his challenger, Jon Ramos, with the well-respected, former City Councilman Juan Ramos, who’s definitely not on the ballot. Stranger things have happened.
Among the young, incumbent officeholders who have certainly worked diligently for voters, and who, in my opinion, should be returned to office to achieve their full potential, I would count Vanessa L. Brown (190th), Kenyatta Johnson (186th), and Tony Payton (179th), who’s unopposed in the Primary, but who will have a Republican opponent in the general election.
In the category of talented, high-potential challengers who deserve the support of the voters for their first "win," I'd certainly name Will Mega (192nd), who’s running a respectful, intelligent campaign, who is focusing on "the issues" and who’s time has come in that District. Candidates like Mega will help shape the future of politics in our community.
Finally, there are the ballot questions, here in Philadelphia. Even if you’re not excited about any of the candidates – go out and vote in your own interest on those.
Ballot Question #1 will seek voter support to give City Council the power to require that contractors and City financial assistance recipients submit Economic Opportunity Plans (for minority business and workforce inclusion). It will also give Council the power to enforce the requirement with penalties that go as far as barring non-cooperating contractors from doing future City work.
Curiously, but not surprisingly, the City's so-called "political and civic watch dog" organization, The Committee of 70, says on its website, that it will take “no position” on whether this question should be approved.
That should be all we need to know to make sure we do all that we can to ensure that black, Hispanic, Asian and white female voters turn out in droves to vote "Yes" on this question.
Ballot Question #2 seeks voter support to reduce the size of the Zoning Board of Adjustments from six to five members, eliminating a permanent appointee from the Department of Licenses and Inspections. This seems to be a move to further reduce L&I’s “clout” in the City.
This ought to happen.
Ballot Question #3 asks voter support to abolish the highly publicized and widely criticized Board of Revision of Taxes (BRT). Unlike the minority contract participation question, this one has earned a "Strong Yes" from the Committee of 70. Given all the recent negative coverage of the long-term, old-boy power base, I suspect that the BRT will be “toast” as of May 19th …but you decide.
Ballot Question #4 asks voter support for the City to borrow $65, 525,000 for transit, streets, sanitation, parks, recreation, museums and economic and community development.
Here, again, the "fat cats" on the Committee of 70 take “no position,” which probably means they believe this will provide a greater benefit for the predominantly black and minority base of City residents than to people like themselves, so they don’t care if it ever happens.
This should be all the info you need to realize that you should run right out and vote “yes” on question #4.
So, there you have it.
It's clear that there's work to be done, by all of us, on May 18.
Please, don't "sleep" these elections!
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