Nutter speaks about his McElhatton endorsement

Mayor Nutter wasn't available for comment after he endorsed Dan McElhatton for DA last Friday, which happened via a recorded phone call to voters just four days before Tuesday's primary election.

He has since broken bread with Seth Williams, the successful Democratic nominee in that race, hosting a joint news conference to show they're both on the same page, at least as far as efforts to help Williams win the general election in November.

Still, here's what Nutter had to say this afternoon about his backing of McElhatton.

Asked why he did not endorse McElhatton in a more visible way, such as by holding a news conference like he did to announce his support of incumbent City Controller Alan Butkovitz, Nutter said: "I don't think there's any special answer. I was pretty busy during the course of the campaign season with the budget. ... Dan is my friend and has been a longtime friend and supporter. ... I had the time to make the voice recording when I did."

And asked if McElhatton could have benefitted from an endorsement that came earlier that four days before election day, the mayor said: "I truly don't know. That's a tremendous hypothetical. ... The voters spoke on Tuesday and that's it."

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