State Rep. Bill Keller withstood a Democratic primary challenge in his South Philly district from Christian DiCicco in the latest proxy battle between Electrician's Union leader John Dougherty and retiring state Sen. Vince Fumo.

State Rep. Tony Payton Jr. survived his two-year battle with his own political party by defeating challenger Guy D. Lewis, who was recruited by a group of Democratic ward leaders to take on the first-term legislator.

And two-term state Rep. Tommy Blackwell, bumped from the ballot last month for problems with his nominating petitions, failed to topple challenger Vanessa Brown with write-in votes.

It was an active ballot overall for the state House in Philadelphia, with six incumbents facing challenges in the primary.

Johnson, a Point Breeze native, attributed his victory over James, a retired police officer, by 30 percentage points to using his campaign office to feed hungry families and help senior citizens do their tax returns.

"We used our office to do constituent services to actually help people," Johnson said. "I think [James] relied on the traditional political machine and didn't campaign until last week."

James was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Johnson does not have a Republican challenger in November.

Keller last night was pleased to withstand the DiCicco challenge, which he attributed to Fumo being "divisive." Keller is a political ally of Dougherty, who yesterday lost his bid to replace Fumo to Larry Farnese, a Fumo ally.

"That's a good old-fashioned ass-kicking," Keller said of his victory by 20 percentage points. "I hope that says I've done a good job and I deserve to have this job for another two years."

DiCicco thanked supporters in South Philly last night as they chanted, "Next time, next time."

"We were outspent five-to-one," said DiCicco, whose father is City Councilman Frank DiCicco. "We were outmanned 25-to-one. But we gave him a hell of a race."

Keller will face Republican Anthony Biondo in the November general election.

Payton said he found his victory over Lewis by 23 percentage points "extremely satisfying." He was first elected two years ago by a narrow margin over a party-backed candidate who was removed from the ballot but ran a well-organized write-in effort.

"I think this just goes to show, when you do the work, the people will reward you," Payton said of his win over Lewis. "This is another sign that the petty personal politics of Philadelphia cannot continue. We have to focus on public policy."

Asked if he could now make peace with the ward leaders who opposed him, Payton said: "My focus is serving the people of this district. If anyone wants to join me, they're welcome."

Payton faces Republican William Kennedy in November.

Blackwell, who had trouble with his nominating petitions, also could not organize an effective write-in campaign after being removed from the ballot. His district registered a little more than 1,000 write-in votes while Brown took in nearly 11,500 votes.

"We treated this as if our opponent was the biggest challenge we could overcome," Brown said. "We put forth a full effort, a full campaign. The one thing we thought was the voters deserved it. We think no one should take anything for granted."

Brown faces Republican Rahim Foreman in November.

State Rep. Babette Josephs yesterday survived another primary challenge, pulling in 60 percent of the vote to defeat Peggy Banaszek and Bob Gormley. Josephs said she benefited from excitement about yesterday's Democratic presidential primary and new residents in newly constructed Center City condominiums.

"Everybody got registered to vote," said Josephs, who will be challenged in November by Republican Wally Zimolong.

Also last night:

_ Former Fraternal Order of Police president Rich Costello defeated Tim Kearney, 57 percent to 43 percent, for the right to challenge state Rep. John Perzel in November. Perzel, a Republican, was speaker of the state House until he was deposed in January 2007.

_ State Rep. Angel Cruz defeated challenger Jonathan Ramos, 55 percent to 45 percent. Cruz does not have a Republican challenger in November.

_ State Rep. Rosita Youngblood defeated challenger Byron Davis, 56 percent to 44 percent. She does not have a Republican challenger in November. *