New electoral rule may help GOP

A peculiarity of Philadelphia's campaign-finance law may give Republicans an advantage in next year's race for district attorney, and certainly will give candidates an incentive to start raising money as soon as possible.

The limits on contributions to a candidate ($2,600 for individuals, $10,600 for businesses or political committees) are applied to a calendar year, rather than an election cycle.

That means a Democratic candidate who spends heavily ahead of a contested May 19 primary won't be able to go back to maxed-out contributors for the general election, since those contributions would fall in the same calendar year.

That could give a financial advantage to a Republican candidate if he or she doesn't face a primary battle, which is often the case in Philadelphia's GOP.

In an interview last week, Republican party counsel Michael Meehan made another point about the effect of the city's campaign limits. "The key is for someone to get a committee [and start raising money] now," Meehan said.

A candidate that gets supporters to donate the maximum before Dec. 31 can accept more money from them in 2005. A candidate who doesn't get started till after the Mummer's Parade gets only one bite at every donor.

In March, the city ethics board took note of the issue and recommended that the mayor and City Council consider changing the law so that the limits apply "per election" rather than per year.

Mayor Nutter said in June that he favors a comprehensive review of the city's campaign law to determine appropriate changes. *