Monica Yant Kinney: This rehab worker made Perzel sweat

Mark Chilutti earned a footnote in political history when, back in 2000, the gunshot-victim-turned-political-neophyte came within 93 votes of beating State Rep. John M. Perzel, one of the most powerful men in Pennsylvania, in Northeast Philadelphia.

Now Chilutti can add an asterisk to his entry as the inadvertent inspiration for Perzel's high-tech downfall. This Mr. Smith never got to Washington, but Chilutti's near-win may help rid Harrisburg of another dinosaur.

Chilutti is not named in the 188-page grand-jury presentment against Perzel, but his presence is palpable.

"On the eve of Election Day in 2000, after the initial vote count, Perzel was losing," the document reads. A day later, the majority leader eked out the win by the grace of absentee ballots.

"Panic struck" after the near-loss, one former Perzel staffer told the grand jury. Another called it "pandemonium."

"Perzel vowed never to experience another close electoral challenge," the grand jury reported. And so began a $10 million foray into computerized campaigning - a ruthless exercise on the cutting edge and, unfortunately, the taxpayers' dime.

Chilutti was at work at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital when he learned Perzel faced criminal charges.

"My wife was the first to call me. She got the tweet," he recalled.

"Five minutes later, I had a one-line e-mail from Larry Ceisler," the Democratic political consultant. Ceisler was offering friendly credit:

"It's all your fault."

For those who've long ago forgotten the 2000 race in the 172d Legislative District, it pitted Perzel - who single-handedly controlled which bills became law in Pennsylvania - against Chilutti, a 32-year-old Eagle Scout rolling through Mayfair in a wheelchair.

"I was a kid from the neighborhood who got shot, who was trying to turn that negative into a positive," he recalled. "I had name recognition. I lived in that district my entire life. The things I talked about resonated with people."

He means "things" like crime, guns, and health-care reform, issues Chilutti confronted after a 1996 robbery at his jewelry store left him paralyzed.

Perzel didn't take Chilutti seriously. Neither did fellow Democrats.

"I had people tell me, 'I hate John M. Perzel, but I can't give you money because if you don't win, my name is on your campaign-finance report and he's going to get me.' "

After the close call, Perzel swiftly punished the 62d Ward for siding with Chilutti.

The Republican redrew the electoral map, dumping detractors out of the district.

Chilutti shuddered at the "legalized incumbent protection," but wasn't shocked. He moved to Somerton and left politics behind.

Perzel is, to date, the most prominent official charged in the epic Bonusgate investigation.

He's accused of 82 counts of theft, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and conflict of interest.

He was handcuffed and paraded before TV cameras before being released on $100,000 bond.

The grand jury said he and others had misspent millions in public money on campaign software, then tried to cover it up.

Chilutti - who has never met Perzel, never shaken the man's hand - seems astonished to have been the muse for the alleged ruse.

"I would like to be known as the guy who got him to be a more effective legislator," he said, "not the one who sent him off the deep end and potentially to prison."

At Magee, Chilutti has helped raise $2.5 million for wheelchair sports and a dialysis center, an amount Perzel might have used to smear his peers.

"Nine years later, I've helped a lot more people by not being elected," Chilutti said. "At the end of the day, I feel good about what I did. I don't know that I would be able to say that if I was a state legislator."