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Mayoral candidates state what they're worth

Six of seven seeking to be mayor filed financial reports; Milton Street did not.

(From left, clockwise) Mayoral candidates Lynne Abraham, Nelson Diaz, Jim Kenney and Anthony H. Williams.
(From left, clockwise) Mayoral candidates Lynne Abraham, Nelson Diaz, Jim Kenney and Anthony H. Williams.Read more

WITH LESS than two weeks to go before Philadelphia's primary election for mayor, state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams has more cash on hand to spend than chief rival, former City Councilman Jim Kenney, according to campaign-finance reports filed yesterday.

But money from political-action committees, which can spend unlimited amounts promoting a candidate as long as they don't work with the candidate, will likely even out the playing field between Williams and Kenney.

During the second and final reporting cycle of the primary race, Williams' campaign raised about $1.3 million from Jan. 1 through May 4, according to the candidate's report.

Williams' campaign took in an additional $200,000 in donations in the past four days, bringing his total fundraising to about $1.5 million as of yesterday, the report showed.

Williams had more than $623,000 in cash on hand. His campaign spent $1.1 million on the race during the past four months.

Meghan Lane, Williams' campaign finance director, said individual donors contributed 94 percent of the money and PACs contributed the remaining 6 percent.

"We're happy that the senator enjoys a broad range of supporters from every part of the city," she said yesterday.

Meanwhile, Kenney raised $1.3 million from Jan. 1 to May 4, his report stated.

Kenney raised an additional $150,000 in the last four days, his campaign said. Kenney spent just over $1 million during the reporting period and has $310,000 in cash, the report said.

The campaign said it received donations from more than 1,500 individual donors, more than 900 of which were small-dollar donations.

"We are extremely grateful to all the Philadelphians who gave what they could, so others could hear about Jim and his plan for moving every neighborhood in the city forward," Kenney campaign manager Jane Slusser said.

Also in Kenney's corner is the Turnout Project, a political-action committee with a Washington, D.C., mailing address. It raised $825,000 from March 31 to May 4, according to a campaign finance report filed yesterday.

Of the $825,000 raised, $750,000 came from the Carpenters Fund for Growth and Progress in Edison, N.J., and $75,000 came from two law firms, Brown and Connery and Parker McCay, and Ferreira Construction Company. Each contributed $25,000.

Turnout Project then gave $725,000 to the Building a Better Pennsylvania Fund, a Philadelphia-based independent expenditure-only committee that has funded television spots for Kenney.

The Daily News was unable to reach Turnout Project officials yesterday.

Former District Attorney Lynne Abraham's campaign raised about $1 million, spending $915,569 as of May 4, with $313,869 on hand for the push to the finish line. Of the $1 million, $122,888 came from political-action committees, with the bulk of funds coming from individual donors, including $2,900 each from restaurateur Stephen Starr and Geno Vento of Geno's Steaks .

In January, Abraham, a partner with the law firm Archer and Greiner, donated $100,000 of her own money to the campaign.

"City Hall is not for sale," Abraham said yesterday when asked about fundraising. "I work for the people of Philadelphia. I'm not in the hip pockets of any special interests. My agenda is the city's agenda and its people. So I repudiate dark money."

Mayoral candidate Nelson Diaz raised $394,093.89 from Jan. 1 through May 4. That amount includes a $125,000 loan that Diaz made to his campaign, according to a finance report filed Thursday - one day ahead of yesterday's deadline.

Diaz is a former board member of Exelon Corp., an electric utility provider and parent company of PECO Energy, and the Exelon PAC gave $11,500 to "Friends of Nelson A. Diaz." Other big PAC contributors included: Duane Morris Government Committee at $2,500; the Washington, D.C.-based Latino Victory Fund and Anne E. Lazarus for Supreme Court contributed $5,000 apiece. Diaz's campaign also received $11,000 from a California technology company, Insightful Professional Services. The Center City firm Dilworth Paxon, where Diaz is a law partner, donated $5,000 to the campaign on April 14.

Diaz, a former Common Pleas judge, launched his first television ad earlier this week and his campaign spent $101,000 on the television spot, making the expenditure to Al Media Inc. in Chicago. Diaz's campaign also paid more than $20,000 to on polling done by Lake Research Partners.

Fellow Democratic mayoral candidate Doug Oliver reported having raised $32,691, spending $24,537 and having $8,154 on hand in cash.

Democrat Milton Street failed to file his financial report by yesterday's 5 p.m. deadline, city elections officials said.

Republican mayoral candidate Melissa Murray Bailey, who is running unopposed in the primary, raised $4,900, including $1,000 out of her own pocket.