Latest reports show a low-budget battle for Phila. mayor

The race for mayor of Philadelphia, off to a sleepy start, picked up momentum last month. The money has yet to catch up.

No Democrat's campaign account had crossed the half-million-dollar mark as of Dec. 31, according to 2014 annual finance reports filed Monday.

By contrast, three of the five major candidates in the 2007 Democratic primary for mayor had raised more than $1 million by this time in their race. And they all released their reports three weeks early so they could brag about it.

In this race, many political donors were waiting to see if City Council President Darrell L. Clarke would run for mayor. Clarke, after freezing the field for months, said in January he would seek a fifth term on Council instead.

State Sen. Anthony H. Williams held the lead in the money race for the May 19 Democratic primary. His campaign finance report Monday showed he had $425,897 in the bank as of Dec. 31.

A Williams campaign spokesman noted that $208,060 of that was raised in the last five weeks of 2014.

Former District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham ran second in cash, reporting $195,968 as of Dec. 31. That included $22,700 Abraham lent to her campaign on the last day of 2014.

Abraham tried to bolster her campaign financial standing on Monday by filing an additional report for January. That showed her bank account climbing to $424,677 as of Jan. 31, including an additional $100,000 she lent her campaign in the last week of January.

City Councilman James Kenney sparked renewed interest in the mayoral race when he resigned last week in preparation for a mayoral run. His campaign account held $76,552 as of Dec. 31.

Former Common Pleas Court Judge Nelson A. Diaz's campaign had $79,452 in the bank at the end of the year.

The race's first two declared candidates - former City Solicitor Ken Trujillo and Terry Gillen, formerly a top aide to Mayor Nutter - have ended their campaigns. Trujillo reported $194,471 while Gillen had $141,495.

Doug Oliver, Nutter's former press secretary, had an exploratory committee in 2014 that raised just $1,470. Oliver is due to formally announce his mayoral campaign on Saturday.

Former State Sen. T. Milton Street Sr. said Monday that he filed no report because he raised no money in 2014.

Street, who served time in federal prison for unpaid taxes before running for mayor in 2011, said he hoped to raise $50,000 this year but considers his "name recognition" to be worth $800,000.

Tim Dowling, supervisor of elections for the Board of City Commissioners, said the state Election Code required Street to file a one-page report, since he registered a campaign committee in November.

Dowling also said Oliver has not yet registered his committee, as required by the Election Code.

There were no filings Monday for the Republican primary for mayor, and Dowling said no one from that party has registered a committee so far.

215-854-5973 @byChrisBrennan

Inquirer staff writer Chris Hepp contributed to this article.