Want to represent Phila.? Three state House seats up for grabs

Two recent guilty pleas on corruption charges and one political promotion have left three state House seats vacant in Philadelphia districts. House Speaker Mike Turzai on Thursday set Aug. 11 as a special election for those seats.

Ward leaders for the Democratic and Republican Parties will select candidates for the elections in the 174th District in Northeast Philadelphia, the 191st District in Southwest Philadelphia and Delaware County, and the 195th District, which stretches from Somerset Street in North Philadelphia south to 30th Street Station.

The special-election winners will then finish the remaining 16 months of the two-year terms for those seats, which will be up for grabs again next year.

State Rep. Michelle Brownlee, a Democrat, resigned the 195th District seat Monday after pleading guilty to a public-corruption charge in Dauphin County Court. She was sentenced to 18 months of probation.

State Rep. Ronald Waters, also a Democrat, resigned the 191st seat last week after pleading guilty in a related corruption case. He was sentenced to 23 months of probation.

State Rep. John Sabatina Jr., a Democrat, resigned from the 174th seat Tuesday when he was sworn in as a state senator for the Fifth District. Sabatina won a May 17 special election for the Senate seat, which was vacant since Lt. Gov. Mike Stack III left it for his current post in January.

Tim Dailey, a Republican who lost to Sabatina with 25 percent of the vote in the special election, said he is now seeking to be his party's candidate for the 174th seat.

Dailey, a history teacher at Father Judge High School, may not be the only special-election veteran in the race.

City Councilman Ed Neilson is considering a bid for the Democratic nomination in that district.

A spokesman for Neilson on Thursday said he had been "contacted today by numerous prominent state and city elected officials who are encouraging him to run for the seat."

Neilson won a 2012 special election for the 169th District seat. That seat was then moved in the redistricting process to York County.

Neilson won a special election last year to fill a vacant Council at-large seat but lost his bid for a full four-year term in the May 19 primary.

Dailey is hoping for the same kind of Republican support that helped State Rep. Martina White win a March 24 special election for the 170th District seat vacated by U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Democrat.

White became the second Republican House member from Philadelphia and the first to win an open seat in the city for her party in 25 years.

While Democrats hold a 7-1 voter-registration advantage over Republicans citywide, that falls to 2-1 in the 170th. White's campaign benefited from that math, along with infighting among Northeast Philadelphia Democrats and timing - the special election was held on a day that was not also a primary or general election, in which more Democrats tend to vote.

Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by almost 3-1 in the 174th.

Democrats enjoy overwhelming support in the other two House districts with vacant seats.

Democrats in the 195th District outnumber Republicans 13-1.

Donna Bullock, a lawyer who works as a special assistant to City Council President Darrell L. Clarke, is considering a run for the 195th seat, according to Joe Corrigan, a political consultant advising her about the race.

"Donna is humbled by the numerous calls she is receiving from neighbors and community leaders to run for this seat," Corrigan said.

Democrats in the Philadelphia portion of the 191st District outnumber Republicans 26-1. In the Delaware County portion, Democrats outnumber Republicans by 10-1.

State Sen. Anthony H. Williams, a ward leader with the most divisions in the 191st District, said there are about seven potential Democratic candidates for that seat.

The state reimburses counties for the cost of special elections. A 2011 special election for a House district in Philadelphia and Delaware County cost $168,558.

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@byChrisBrennan