Clout: Evans lost his chair, not his cash
STATE REP. Dwight Evans is down but not out. Evans, who last week lost a Democratic caucus election for the state House Appropriations Committee chairmanship he held for 20 years, didn't look short on support Wednesday as he circled the tables at the annual Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau luncheon.
STATE REP.
Dwight Evans
is down but not out.
Evans, who last week lost a Democratic caucus election for the state House Appropriations Committee chairmanship he held for 20 years, didn't look short on support Wednesday as he circled the tables at the annual Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau luncheon.
Evans, who retained his House seat in the Nov. 2 general election, says he gave $1 million this cycle to Democratic campaigns.
But Democrats lost control of the House to Republicans, which makes us think that Evans' colleagues told him, "Thanks for the dough, now there's the door."
State campaign-finance reports show that Evans gave $123,500 in just the last two weeks of the campaign season, with $50,000 of that going to Todd Eachus, the Democratic majority leader from Hazleton, who was defeated in his bid for re-election.
Of course, in politics, money can be used to make friends and/or punish enemies.
The Democratic caucus votes in a secret ballot, so only its members can tell us whom they supported in Evans' faceoff with Rep. Joe Markosek, of Allegheny County. We hear that a third or more of Philadelphia's 23-member delegation to the House voted against Evans. But only two were open about it. State Rep. Angel Cruz announced before the vote that he would not support Evans. And state Rep. Mike O'Brien nominated Markosek for the job.
Most of the suspected "no" votes we contacted were shocked - shocked, we tell you! - that PhillyClout would try to breach the secret-ballot process. What do they have to worry about?
We hear that some of those who didn't support Evans in the Approprations vote are concerned that he has more than $1 million in his campaign accounts, more than enough cash to settle some political scores.
We'll know for sure on Thursday, when the next state campaign-finance reports are due.
Evans didn't want to talk about the future this week, except to say he does not plan another run for mayor. He smiled broadly when we asked if he would use his campaign war chest for revenge.
"C'mon, man," Evans replied, "I just want to talk about Thanksgiving."
Street slams Nutter . . . again
There will be no holiday slow-down for the verbal bombardment launched by former Mayor John Street against his successor, Mayor Nutter. Street, in the Philadelphia magazine edition hitting newsstands Monday, teams up with former foe-turned-political-pal Sam Katz to knock Nutter once again.
Street derides Nutter as a "mediocre councilman" now in "way over his head." He labels as a failure the 3-1-1 phone system implemented under the Nutter administration and complains about Nutter's approach to municipal union contracts, casinos and property-tax assessments.
"Mayor Nutter has been incredibly arrogant, incompetent and offensive," Street tells Katz in his "Power Lunch" column. "There are more political cowards in our city than political giants. Someone had to say something!
"He's reduced capitulation to an art form. He has no political courage."
We ran Street's latest salvos past Nutter on Wednesday. He quickly laughed them off with a "You gotta be kidding me."
Katz, who lost as a Republican to Street in the 1999 and 2003 races for mayor, toyed with running against Nutter as a Democrat next year - with Street encouraging the idea - but decided against it earlier this month.
Twice as much fun for Council
The May 17 Democratic primary election will feature a political oddity - one candidate seeking two seats on City Council.
Karen Brown, a retired Catholic-school teacher, Democratic committeewoman and president of the Southwark Civic Association, plans to challenge Councilman Frank DiCicco in the 1st District. Brown also plans to run for a Council at-large seat.
We checked with the Philadelphia City Commission and the Committee of Seventy, whose election experts could not recall a candidate running for two Council seats in the same
election.
There is no city or state rule against running for two Council seats, but Brown, if she were to win both elections, would have to choose one and give up the other since the City Charter prohibits dual office-holding.
There is a potential benefit and a political danger to the move. Brown, according to the city's campaign-finance law, will need two committees, allowing her to raise twice as much money as other candidates. But she will be at risk of action by the city's Board of Ethics if she comingles that money in the two campaigns.
Quotable:
"The DRPA is not letting Christie across the bridge. That's the problem."
- U.S. Rep.-Elect Pat Meehan, joking at the Committee of Seventy's annual breakfast Tuesday, when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was 25 minutes late for his keynote speech. Christie has vowed to reform the Delaware River Port Authority.
Staff writer John Baer contributed to this report.
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