Philly mayor's race: Follow the money? What money?

IN THE 1970s true-life thriller All the President's Men, journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein had one basic rule for covering politics: "Follow the money."

But if the Watergate-reporting sleuths were on the trail of the 2015 Philadelphia mayor's race, they might be asking: "Where the hell did all the money go?"

With yesterday's deadline for filing 2014 year-end campaign-finance reports, the major Democratic candidates laid their financial cards on the table for the first time, and no one had a royal flush.

State Sen. Anthony Williams - who'd been a fundraising juggernaut in a failed bid for governor in 2010 - had the most money in the bank, about $425,989, according to his report.

What's more, WHYY Newsworks reported last night that Bala Cynwyd hedge-fund managers who supported his campaign five years ago have launched a new pro-Williams committee, American Cities, which raised more than $250,000 last year, although the bulk of it has been spent on consultants.

Former District Attorney Lynne Abraham - seeking to show momentum - filed two reports, including supplemental papers to show that aggressive fundraising in January had brought her current in-the-bank total to $424,678. She'd ended 2014 with $195,969.

Jim Kenney, the at-large city councilman who jolted the race with his late entry last week, reported cash on hand of $76,552 on New Year's Eve; Nelson Diaz, the former judge and city solicitor, reported a total of $79,452.

The contrast to 2007, the last time the city had no incumbent candidate for mayor, is staggering. Then, self-funded millionaire candidate Tom Knox had $3.4 million in the bank, and that was after spending $2 million on early TV ads. The next three - future Mayor Nutter, state Rep. Dwight Evans and U.S. Rep. Bob Brady - had $1.4 million, $1.2 million and $400,000, respectively.

In other words, the top four had raised eight times as much in 2007. In fact, two district City Council rivals in South Philly, incumbent Kenyatta Johnson ($371,500 in the bank) and rival Ori Feibush ($208,000) are raising more than most mayoral hopefuls.

Experts aren't sure whether the 2015 race is waiting on a tide of "dark money" - independent committees that can receive and spend unlimited amounts from businesses, millionaires and unions, some of it undisclosed - or merely a black hole, devoid of political energy.

Many say the current lineup - which still could change by the March filing deadline - is decidedly lacking in star power compared to the big-name free-for-alls in 2007 and 1999. No candidate has yet aired a TV or radio ad.

But political observers also say that Philadelphia's limit on candidate donations - $2,900 for an individual, $11,500 for a political committee - and court rulings allowing for unlimited outside expenditures like the pro-Williams American Cities may have changed the game.

"We're going to see fundraising ratcheted up but we're going to see these outside groups - that will probably come in the form of TV," said G. Terry Madonna, the political scientist and pollster from Franklin & Marshall College.

Late last year, some local business leaders announced the launch of a fund tentatively called Philly Rising. Union bosses - many of whom are likely to back Kenney's nascent candidacy - are meeting to form their own spending group.

"Given the way that money can be dumped into nonprofits, we may never know" how much was spent, said Barry Kauffman of the the good-government group Pennsylvania Common Cause.

Another Democrat, former PGW spokesman Doug Oliver, has not yet officially announced that he is running for mayor and did not file a report. However, his name is attached to the "DO2015" website as a candidate.

"He would have had to authorize a committee to expend funds to influence his election," said Tim Dowling of the Philadelphia County Board of Elections. Oliver could face fines under state law.

T. Milton Street, the former state senator and brother of ex-mayor John Street, filed candidate paperwork in November but didn't turn in the required finance report yesterday, which officials said could trigger fines of $20 a day.

- Staff writer Wendy Ruderman and Philly.com's Ryan Briggs

contributed to this report.

Blog: ph.ly/Attytood.com