Major service union backs Fattah

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, short on campaign cash compared with his three opponents in the April 26 Democratic primary, strengthened his bid for a 12th term Tuesday by adding a field army.

The Pennsylvania Council of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) endorsed Fattah, vowing to put its members to work for his campaign.

He'll need the help, since State Rep. Dwight Evans reported having $303,012 on hand as of Dec. 31 for the primary, including donations from Mayor Kenney and Gov. Wolf.

Fattah has just $7,673, according to a report filed Jan. 31, and listed five times that amount in debts to lawyers.

Another expected challenger, State Rep. Brian Sims, decided Tuesday to drop out of the race and endorse Evans.

Sims, who has three primary election challengers for his 182nd District seat in the state House, said he was unsure he had the resources to win the congressional seat and saw Evans as "the most viable option" to beat Fattah.

Two other Democrats, ward leader Dan Muroff and Lower Merion Township Commissioner Brian Gordon, met Tuesday's deadline to file nomination petitions to be listed on the primary ballot. Muroff had $208,569 in the bank as of Dec. 31. Gordon had $16,169.

Fattah faces more than money trouble. He is due to go on trial six days after the primary on federal racketeering charges. A federal judge last month ordered his lawyers to keep working on his defense, even though Fattah has not been paying them.

Fattah hit now-familiar notes while accepting SEIU's endorsement, saying he was competing in an election, not an auction.

"It's not so much a bank account that's going to matter," Fattah said. "It's going to be the account of the work that's been done."

Fattah said SEIU's members would help him spread the word about his work on programs helping people with affordable housing, college tuition, job training, and avoiding mortgage foreclosures.

"Above the noise, they'll actually know about this work," said Fattah, who has consistently focused on the election, telling a judge last month that raising money to pay for his legal defense could wait.

Gabe Morgan, president of SEIU's state council, said his union's members are health-care workers, janitors, security guards, and other service employees - the kind of people who live in Fattah's Second Congressional District.

The union has more than 20,000 members in Philadelphia and 80,000 across the state, Morgan said, and a track record of mobilizing them for politics and protests.

"We know that when we're in a fight, often with some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country, whether they're an airline or sometimes a city government, whether they're a major landowner or corporation, Congressman Fattah has stood with us," he said.

Fattah said submitted signatures from more than 3,200 registered voters Monday on his nomination petitions and expected to submit more by Tuesday's deadline.

Evans submitted more than 4,800 signatures. Muroff had about 3,000 and Gordon about 1,900.

James Jones, a former Philadelphia Housing Authority manager and the only Republican candidate to enter the race, said he filed 1,386 signatures.

Candidates needed 1,000 signatures from registered voters in the district, which covers parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County, to be listed on the primary ballot.

brennac@phillynews.com

215-854-5973 @ByChrisBrennan