Primary foes back Kenney for mayor

The five Democratic primary candidates who lost to Jim Kenney endorsed him for mayor Thursday, while an independent candidate threw his hat in the ring.

Kenney and the five - Nelson A. Diaz, Doug Oliver, Lynne M. Abraham, State Sen. Anthony H. Williams, and T. Milton Street Sr. - lunched at Sabrina's Cafe on Callowhill Street Thursday afternoon before holding a news conference to announce their unity. The only fly in the ointment was the announcement by Germantown publisher Jim Foster that he was preparing to run for mayor as an independent.

"Since there are no real challengers, serious issues may never even be talked about," Foster said, discounting Republican mayoral candidate Melissa Murray Bailey. "Maybe it would be good to have someone who knows the issues. I expect to be on the ballot."

After the lunch, Kenney said busy schedules since the May 19 primary had kept the former foes from sitting down for an amicable chat.

"We're all friends here," Kenney said. "We'll continue to work together."

The former candidates spoke of how civil the race was compared with previous mayoral contests.

"On a rare occasion, someone might have made a remark about one other candidate or another, but we talked about the issues," Abraham said. "When we sat at the table, I said, 'I've missed you, I haven't had a forum with you in weeks. Can we please do this again?' "

Williams, who was Kenney's toughest competition and initially was presumed to be the front-runner, said he and the others were looking forward to working with Kenney for the betterment of the city.

"It's really about Jim and his vision, not so much about us," he said. "We're now the backup singers of the Temptations."

The head of the local Republican Party issued a news release calling the lunch an "Old Boys' " network on display.

"While it may look a bit different, don't be fooled, it's all just more of same ole, same ole, behind the facade," said Joe DeFelice, executive director. "We don't deserve the status quo; frankly, we need a breath of fresh air. Melissa Murray Bailey will bring new ideas and a different perspective to the stale political environment we are accustomed."

Foster said he had 1,340 signatures on his petition to run for mayor as an independent. Foster, 72, and any other independents who wish to run for mayor have until Aug. 3 to turn in at least 1,325 signatures on nominating petitions to be placed on the November ballot.

Foster noted that the primary turnout was only 27 percent, meaning Kenney was elected by only a small group of eligible voters.

Foster is the publisher of the Germantown Chronicle and the Northwest Independent.

He ran unsuccessfully for Council in 2007, coming last in a four-way race with 590 votes, 2 percent of the vote in the Eighth District. Donna Reed Miller, a Democrat, won with 21,131, 75 percent of the votes.

Foster also ran as an independent for the U.S. House from the Second District in 2012. Chaka Fattah won with 294,047, 92 percent of the vote. Foster came in last with 4,473 votes in the three-way race.

215-854-5520 @InqCVargas