Gillen announces bid for Phila. mayor

Let the race begin.

Terry Gillen, who served in the administrations of Mayors Nutter and Ed Rendell, announced Saturday that she is running for mayor, making her the first official candidate in what is expected to be a crowded 2015 mayoral race.

The announcement was held in Gillen's Graduate Hospital neighborhood, where she has been active in Democratic politics for decades.

"I left my job with the city in February and I've been preparing for this ever since," Gillen, 59, said Friday. She had most recently served as director of the city's Office of Federal Affairs. Before that, she was executive director of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority.

As Rendell's deputy commerce director in the 1990s, Gillen was a key figure in planning for redevelopment of the former Philadelphia Navy Yard. Today, she considers the transformation of the Navy Yard her proudest accomplishment in city government and is likely to tout it during her campaign.

Economic development is "where I feel I have the most experience," she said.

But Gillen believes the primary issue in the campaign will be education and the funding crisis in the Philadelphia School District. She said she supports strengthening the public school system with financial help from the state and the city.

Gillen said her early entrance into the campaign demonstrated her commitment to the race.

"I quit my job and have been living off my savings," she said. "You have to be serious if you want to be mayor."

She said she had held various fund-raisers this summer but would not say how much she had raised.

"We have to file at the end of the year, and that's when I'll talk finances," she said, adding that supporters of her campaign ranged from millennials to the elderly.

Gillen's early entrance into the Democratic race did not sit well with the local party boss, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady.

"It's a little disrespectful," Brady said Friday.

He said he would like to see local Democrats focus on the governor's race this year before moving on to the mayor's race.

Yet, he added, "She has to do what she has to do."

Political analysts say Gillen could use the head start as an advantage in the campaign. But that doesn't mean others will follow her early lead, they said.

"I don't think it will force anyone" to enter the race soon, said Democratic political consultant Larry Ceisler. "She's not a front-runner. … Terry has to prove she is politically viable."

Gillen, who has lived in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood since 1982, could face competition from a long list of potential candidates, including State Sen. Anthony Williams, City Council President Darrell L. Clarke, Councilman James Kenney, City Controller Alan Butkovitz, and former city solicitor Ken Trujillo.

Asked what would set her apart from the competition, Gillen said: "The thing setting me apart is that I'm the only person in the race."

Although she has started a political action committee to raise money, Gillen said she had not hired any of the big name (and expensive) political consultants.

"Right now, we're looking to raise money, not spend money," she said.

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