Philly Dems spent record $28M in May primary for record low turnout

ON MAY 19, Philadelphia Democrats set a record for the lowest turnout in party history: Only 234,000 of 806,000 registered Democrats bothered to vote.

It turns out another record was set during the primary campaign as well - the most money ever spent.

When you add it up, Democratic candidates for office - and the political action committees that supported them - spent $28.7 million during the months that led up to the May primary.

It was, by far, the most expensive election ever in the city, even after taking inflation into effect.

The total is based on an examination of campaign-finance reports filed with city and state election agencies. It could go higher because a number of candidates and PACs have yet to file all (or, in some cases, any) of the reports required by law. One glaring example: 23 of the city's 69 Democratic wards have failed to file a single scrap of paper about money raised or spent this year.

If you add up the money spent, and divide it into the total turnout, it comes to $122 for each Democrat who cast a vote.

Never has so much been spent by so many to attract so few.

Although the reason for the low turnout isn't easy to pinpoint, that's not the case when it comes to the motives for the money.

For starters, there were highly competitive races for some offices, including mayor and Council at-large. The six candidates for the Democratic nomination for mayor spent a total of nearly $5.3 million. Jim Kenney, the eventual winner, and state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams each spent about $1.8 million. (In contrast, Melissa Murray Bailey, who was unopposed for the Republican nomination, spent $1,124. And for the record: All other Republicans running for city offices spent a mere $630,000.)

There were 16 Democrat candidates for the five at-large Council seats and they spent a total of $4.1 million.

The undisputed king of spending was the man formerly known as the "Condo King": real-estate developer Allan Domb, who spent $1.4 million, most of it his own money. Domb spent $1 million in radio and TV ads. He lavished money on 19 city wards to gain a place on the ballots that committee people hand out to voters.

Domb won at the expense of longtime Councilman Wilson Goode Jr., who spent $70,000, which was a lot compared to previous races - where he often spent little or nothing. Goode had the party's endorsement, but it's clear he was "cut" - short for his name being left off the ballot - in the wards.

Meanwhile, in South Philadelphia's 2nd Council District, incumbent Kenyatta Johnson faced developer Ori Feibush in another ultra-expensive race that cost the two a total of $1.6 million. Johnson won in a walk.

Another major factor in the spending spree was the arrival of Independent Expenditure Committees, the so-called superPACs, who are exempt from the limits city law puts on contributions.

There were three superPACs: American Cities, which was pro-Williams; Forward Philadelphia and Building a Better Philadelphia, which were pro-Kenney. The three spent a total of $10.1 million during the primary season, with $8.6 million going for TV advertising touting the merits of their favored candidates.

The two pro-Kenney PACs were heavily financed by unions - among them the American Federation of Teachers, the International Brother of Electrical Workers and AFSCME.

The American Cities PAC was financed almost entirely by the three partners in the Susquehanna International Group, a commodities and stock trading firm based in Bala Cynwyd. Partners Arthur Dantchik, Jeff Yass and Joel Greenberg each contributed $2.3 million to the superPAC. The three multi-multi-millionaires are pro-charter and believers in educational choice. Their PAC spent a total of $5.8 million in TV ads on behalf of Williams, thus proving the adage that money can't buy happiness.

With so much money floating around, a look at the campaign finance reports conjures up the image of frenetic activity: $2.1 million paid to consultants; nearly $800,000 for printing mailers, door-hangers and brochures; more than $400,000 for the category labeled "Food," not including the $1,789 spent at Dunkin' Donuts. There was $615 spent on balloons. That's a whole lot of balloons.

Meanwhile, the candidates and the major PACs showered money on the city's 69 wards for so-called street money, which is the cash paid to committee people for their efforts on Election Day. Normally, street money totals about $350,000 citywide. This time, there was $1.3 million spent on Get Out the Vote efforts, although how much actually trickled down the street remains to be seen.

There was a crowded ballot in this year's Democratic primary: six candidates for mayor, 16 candidates for five Council at-large seats, a scrum of 51 candidates running for 15 vacancies on Common Pleas and Municipal courts.

Yet, when all the millions were spent, after the $12 million in TV ads ran and after all the votes were counted, only three incumbents lost: Goode; freshman Councilman-at-large Ed Neilson (who promptly went on to be elected to a seat in the state House); and Common Pleas Judge Vincent Melchiorre, an appointee to the bench who was running for a full 10-year term.

To summarize, we had nearly $29 million spent to draw 234,000 people to the polls in an election where only three incumbents were unseated.