Butkovitz nominated for Philadelphia city controller

Incumbent Alan Butkovitz won the Democratic nomination for city controller yesterday, muscling past opponents John Braxton and Brett Mandel in a low-turnout, hard-fought election.

With nearly all precincts reporting, Butkovitz took slightly more than two-fifths of the vote, demonstrating the power of four years in the public eye, a recognizable name, and the backing of the city's Democratic machine.

Braxton and Mandel split the rest, with Braxton finishing a few points ahead.

"I think it's actually a vote of confidence in the way we've run our office," Butkovitz said just after declaring victory two hours after the polls closed.

In an environment where voters are worried about their own and the city's finances, and generally "depressed," Butkovitz said, "it shows a very strong approval of me."

Butkovitz, 57, will face Republican Al Schmidt in November, who was unopposed in his party's primary.

"The bad news is that the reform Democrats lost," said Schmidt, 37. "The good news is that I am facing the opponent I want to face in November."

Mandel, 40, a financial analyst in the Controller's Office under Jonathan Saidel, ran as "the budget bulldog," assailing Butkovitz as a party insider who shirked his role as fiscal auditor and instead concentrated on headline-grabbing reports that resulted in little real reform.

Mandel offered himself as the champion of reform, as the longtime head of Philadelphia Forward, the organization he ran for five years in pursuit of lower city wage and business taxes.

Braxton repeatedly said the controller should use the office as a voice of morality in the city's finances and ethics, and he promised that - as the "unbought and unbossed" candidate - he would not report to party leaders.

Braxton, 64, a Common Pleas Court judge for nearly 15 years, ran an almost entirely self-funded campaign, spent little before the final weeks of the race, and had to run the home stretch with a broken leg sustained before a debate last week.

The former judge, who took on Butkovitz in 2005 only to be thrown off the ballot for an omission on his financial-disclosure forms, even had to take some time out during Election Day for medical treatment to his leg.

Braxton raised $92,104, all but $8,000 of that a loan from himself. As of May 8, he had spent less than $4,000.

After conceding defeat last night, Braxton said the numbers showed that "we seriously raised the issues we wanted to raise."

Braxton noted that more than half of the votes cast in the race were for candidates other than Butkovitz.

"When you see the number of votes cast against the incumbent, it shows he's not the most popular guy in town," Braxton said.

Mandel agreed.

"I think clearly Philadelphia voted for major change in the office of the city's chief financial watchdog, but they were split in the change they wanted," Mandel said, "and an entrenched incumbent is reelected with 40 percent of the vote."

Mandel gave Butkovitz a run in the fund-raising department, hauling in more than $116,000 this year and boasting hundreds of individual donors.

Schmidt had spent about $28,000 on his campaign as of May 8.

Those numbers couldn't match Butkovitz's, who amassed more than $245,000, much of it in 2008.

He received at least $40,000 in 2008 and 2009 from two political action committees associated with Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, headed by business manager John J. Dougherty.

Thanks to that fund-raising, Butkovitz, a Northeast ward leader and former 15-year veteran of the state House of Representatives, had plenty of street money to spread around. He paid the Democratic City Committee at least $36,500 and received its endorsement. He also gave $500 to each of 68 ward committees and won their overwhelming support.

But his support was not just the party establishment. He won support from the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity despite the candidacy of Braxton, an African American, and earned the endorsement of Mayor Nutter, which he proudly advertised as a reformer's stamp of approval.

Though he had no opposition, Schmidt, 37, broke with traditional Republican strategy of hoarding his resources for the general election and was active in advertising and debates.

Schmidt is a former auditor in the federal Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.

He moved to Philadelphia in 2005 and became executive director of the Republican City Committee, a post he left in January to enter the race.