City Council newcomers oust incumbents

Two Philadelphia City Council incumbents, including 15-year veteran W. Wilson Goode Jr., failed to win the Democratic Party's endorsement Tuesday, guaranteeing there will be four new members on the 17-seat legislative body next year.

Goode and Councilman Ed Neilson, both at-large members, were outpolled by three newcomers - Derek Green, former aide to retiring Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco; Allan Domb, a developer known as the city's "condo king"; and education activist Helen Gym - who were seeking to become among the party's five at-large nominees. Incumbents Blondell Reynolds Brown and William Greenlee won nomination. A fifth at-large seat became vacant when James F. Kenney resigned to run for mayor.

Another opening to be filled is in the Ninth District, where State Rep. Cherelle L. Parker ran unopposed to replace Marian B. Tasco, who is retiring. She will face Republican Kevin Strickland in the November general election.

"We'll see how the future unfolds," said Green, who pulled 10 percent of the vote, more than any other Democratic candidate. "We're bringing a new energy, new faces, to Council."

Only two of the 10 district Council seats were contested.

In the Second District, a bitter race between Councilman Kenyatta Johnson and challenger Ori Feibush ended in an easy win for Johnson. He drew about 63 percent of the vote.

A deflated Feibush said his team fought "incredibly hard."

"I'm disappointed I wasn't able to pull through for them," Feibush said. "Sometimes you come up short."

Johnson's spokesman, Mark Nevins, said the councilman felt confident that by keeping the focus on working families and "creating a positive future for young people," he would be successful.

In the Seventh District, Councilwoman Maria Quiñones Sánchez won by a slimmer margin, 54 percent of the vote. She was challenged by Manny Morales, who had party backing but came under fire for racist and antigay posts found on his Facebook page.

Arguably the biggest surprise of the night was in the ouster of Goode in the at-large race. Goode - son of W. Wilson Goode, the city's first black mayor - had not been considered vulnerable, save for his low position on the ballot. He did not return a request for comment late Tuesday. Nor did Neilson, who won a seat on Council in a May 2014 special election.

The at-large race showed that the Democratic Party couldn't overcome a self-funded multimillionaire. Goode and Neilson, as well as lawyer Sherri Cohen, were backed by the party but, ultimately, not voters.

Domb, 60, outraised all of the other candidates in the field - bringing in nearly $1 million, more than half of it his own. Domb, who did not return a request for comment late Tuesday, poured a half-million dollars into TV ads in which he pledged to return his Council salary to the city's schools.

In a race that has centered on how to fund city schools, Gym, 47, a board member of Asian Americans United, received the support of the city, state, and national teachers' unions.

"I do think voters want to see some change in this city," Gym said.

There was an outside chance, however, that Gym could be knocked out of the race. Isaiah Thomas, a charter school dean, trailed Gym by about 1,000 votes with 98 percent of precincts reporting.

Green, 44, had both the number-one ballot spot and the support of Tasco and the powerful Northwest ward leaders. Green also secured backing of independent political group Philly 3.0, which has pushed throughout the election for new faces on Council.

The five Republicans who will be fighting for two at-large seats are incumbents David Oh and Dennis O'Brien, and challengers Terry Tracy, Daniel Tinney, and Al Taubenberger.

In the remaining seven districts, the following incumbents were unopposed in the primary: Democrats Cindy Bass, Jannie L. Blackwell, Darrell L. Clarke, Bobby Henon, Mark Squilla, and Curtis Jones Jr., and Republican Brian J. O'Neill.