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Read the news of the day in less than 10 minutes — not that we’re counting.
Tuesday marked the deadline for filing nomination petitions for public office. If you had all your signatures and forms completed and the proper amount of money in hand you were good to go. When 5 p.m. rolled around, five Democratic mayoral candidates (plus Milton Street by a hair) had done just that. And then Street got to talking trash about Tony Williams. Here are six highlights from petition signature day.
1. Mayoral signature scoreboard
Who won the ego-boosting contest? Obviously, it’s important to get a few more than 1,000 signatures in case other candidates protest, but some of the candidates took this signature thing to a whole new level. Here’s how it breaks down:
Tony Williams: 15,000
Jim Kenney: 10,070
Nelson Diaz: 5,000
Doug Oliver: 4,125
Lynne Abraham: 4,000
Milton Street: 3,261
2. Milton Street nearly screwed up his mayoral run and then sniped at Tony Williams
Former state Sen. Milton Street, lacking paperwork, can’t file petition signatures to run for mayor. #NextMayorPHL pic.twitter.com/0xLT4037SJ
— Chris Brennan (@ByChrisBrennan) March 10, 2015
But he got all the paperwork together in the nick of time.
Milton Street arrives with half hour to spare, says “I have 1,000 good signatures.” #PHL2015 pic.twitter.com/dEnjnRAJjF
— AL DÍA News (@ALDIANews) March 10, 2015
That was good enough, at least for now. Street’s name is on the unofficial list of candidates released by the City Commissioners.
He celebrated the occasion of not screwing up and losing his chance to run for mayor by taking shots at Tony Williams. According to the Daily News, Street said Williams compiled over 6,000 fake signatures. He claimed he knew this because five or six sources (which he declined to name) told him so; Street says he’s going to file a complaint with Philadelphia’s Board of Ethics.
“I will guarantee you his signatures are fraudulent, and almost as much as 75 percent of them,” he said to the Daily News.
And if Street is wrong, he said he will drop out of the race.
3. Good luck on keeping track of the City Council at-large election
Soooooo many people want to be on City Council this year. The race for five Democratic at-large spots (because let’s face it the Dems will definitely snag five) involves four incumbent council members and 17 other challengers. And if history is any indication, those 17 people will have an awfully difficult time beating the incumbents.
4. Only one Republican is on the mayor ticket
Melissa Murray Bailey will be the Republican mayoral candidate this spring and in the fall general election. Though Elmer Money and Rhashea Harmon had expressed interest in running, Murray Bailey is the only one to complete all the paperwork, get all the signatures and land on the list. But Harmon says she will run as an Independent in the fall — and, of course, we could still see a candidacy from Sam Katz.
5. The guy who announced his mayoral candidacy in a (probably) strip club isn’t running
Well, Juan Rodriguez didn’t file all of his paperwork and signatures Tuesday. He’s the guy who announced his intentions to run last month at a North Philly bar that features exotic dancers. Keith Goodman isn’t running either. The pastor said he wanted to focus more on helping families in North Philadelphia.
6. And how much money could these people make if they win?
It’s a LOT of work to run for public office in Philadelphia. Do candidates who win get a big payday? You betcha. Here’s how salaries for elected positions in Philly break down, based on recent data.
Mayor: $208,000
City Council: $127,085-$133,567
City Council President: $159,503
City Commissioner: $125,000
Sheriff: $123,600
Register of Wills: $123,600
