Evans fights power shift

HARRISBURG - The West is getting the upper hand. Pennsylvania's governor-elect, the two highest-ranking Republican House members, and the Senate president now hail from the state's western half.

And a contentious House Democratic caucus leadership election Tuesday could wrench even more power from the Philadelphia region.

Rep. Dwight Evans is facing a serious challenge as the ranking Democrat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, a position he has held for two decades.

The long-serving Philadelphian has become the prime target in what is shaping up as a revolt against the Democratic old guard by a number of rank-and-file legislators.

They are angry at their crushing losses this month at the polls, where they lost their majority in the House. And they believe their leaders don't play fair.

Evans has become the symbol of their discontent. "Maybe we're at a point here in time where a new broom will sweep clean," said Rep. Michael H. O'Brien of Philadelphia, who said he would not support Evans on Tuesday. "So let's retool ourselves and get back in the game."

Evans is calling the challenge a personal vendetta by a few legislators with an ax to grind.

"This is not about policy. It's not about what's good for the caucus. It's not about what is good for Pennsylvanians," Evans spokeswoman Johnna Pro said. "This is an internal caucus battle instigated by a couple of angry, petty members who are trying to foment dissent."

Tuesday's Democratic leadership elections will also decide the next House minority leader - widely expected to be Frank Dermody of Allegheny County - as well as such lesser titles as caucus chair. Dan Frankel of Allegheny County is challenging Philadelphia's Mark Cohen for that post.

But all eyes are on the contest for the Appropriations Committee.

Evans is being challenged by Rep. Joe Markosek of Allegheny County, the House Transportation Committee chairman.

The winner will be the equivalent of a minority chairman, and will take a backseat to Rep. William Adolph (R., Delaware), who will head the committee and control its agenda.

Tuesday's election will play out behind closed doors, and votes are by secret ballot.

Neither side is making predictions. But the threat to Evans is serious enough that he has been calling caucus members to shore up votes, and allies including Mayor Nutter are mounting an aggressive campaign over the next two days to keep him in power.

"He is a critical leader in Pennsylvania," Nutter said.

Evans' aggressive advocacy for public education, public transit, and the arts benefits all Pennsylvanians, the mayor said, but Philadelphians, in particular, cannot afford to lose him.

"Virtually every positive thing that has happened in Philadelphia that has come from the state is a result of his direct, personal input," Nutter said.

The discussion started on election night at a gathering of the city's leading black politicians in Evans' district, Nutter said. "We were anticipating that somebody might take a shot, and we wanted to be prepared for it," he said.

Evans is on the outs with some members because they believe he was the master puppeteer behind an edict to cancel a House voting session this week in order to prevent a vote on a bill that contains a provision Evans doesn't like.

That provision, a brainchild of GOP legislators, would create an Independent Fiscal Office to scrutinize the administration's revenue estimates and reports. Republicans have repeatedly complained that those figures get skewed by politics. Evans, by some accounts, saw the proposed office as infringing on his committee's powers.

In the end, other House leaders buckled to pressure from members and called them back to vote Monday.

But the spat left Evans vulnerable. And it brought to the surface other complaints that House Democrats have had against their old leadership team, including how the controversial special-project grants nicknamed WAMs - for walking-around money - are doled out to members.

As Appropriations chairman for the last four years, Evans controlled the flow of those dollars.

"What has been a bone of contention with a lot of members is that we were told there's nothing available for us," his challenger, Markosek, said. "Then we hear through the grapevine that other people got grants."

He added: "There's a lot of griping and groaning about the way things are done, and I think I'm a viable alternative."

Rep. Jewell Williams (D., Phila.) said he saw the revolt as fueled by a pervasive feeling among lawmakers from elsewhere that Philadelphia and its suburbs get the lion's share of state funding.

"It's an anti-Philadelphia thing," Williams said. "It's that simple."

Pro, Evans' spokeswoman, said Evans had worked to secure money for all parts of the state, and she ticked off example after example of funding he had delivered to other counties.

"I know that people like to take shots at Philadelphia," said Pro. "It's easy to do because it's the largest region of the state. But I think you will find that there is hardly a person who will say that Dwight hasn't been a champion for their region."

This much is true, political analysts say: The ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee has, for the last four decades, hailed from Philadelphia.

And there is little doubt that if Evans loses, Philadelphia stands to wind up with less clout in Harrisburg.

City Controller Alan Butkovitz, a former Democratic House member, said the Appropriations posts, even the minority one, are critical for Philadelphia to have a role in drafting the state budget.

The loss of Evans, coupled with the end of Gov. Rendell's tenure and the loss of a Democratic majority in the House, "means Philadelphia will not be writing any part of the appropriations bills."

And the city's budget, said Butkovitz, is 15 percent - or about $600 million - funded by the state.

"We are in serious danger of having a financial crisis imposed upon us by the change in Harrisburg," he said.

Rep. Cherelle L. Parker (D., Phila.) said that was among many reasons she would vote for Evans.

With Republicans controlling the governor's office and both chambers of the legislature, "we need the experience that Dwight Evans brings to the table," particularly when it comes to negotiating the budget, she said. "It's going to be a tough two years, and we are going to have to fight hard for the core Democratic principles."

If not all Philadelphia representatives are for Evans, neither is every Westerner backing Markosek. Rep. Joe Preston of Allegheny County, for one, vowed to put experience above region when he votes Tuesday.

"Being in the minority is like going to war," Preston said. "Who do you want to lead you when you go to war? For me, it's Dwight."