PRIMARY 2005: Washington wins Senate seat; NW favors Williams in D.A. race

by MICHAEL J. MISHAK

Marked by low voter turnout, last week's primary yielded little surprises.

LeAnna Washington, a six-time Democratic state representative, easily bested Republican Ron Holt in the special election to succeed U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz in the state Senate.

Washington won with a landslide, capturing 83 percent of the total vote in a district that straddles Philadelphia and Montgomery County.

Holt, who mounted an unsuccessful bid against the incumbent Schwartz in 2002, had hoped low voter turnout would work to his advantage but was clobbered in the city, which claims 58 percent of the district's registered voters. With 96 percent of the Philadelphia vote counted, Holt earned 773 votes in eight city wards to finish with a 5 percent showing. Most of his support came from the suburbs.

About 14 percent of registered voters in the 4th District — which includes Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy and Germantown in Philadelphia and Cheltenham, Abington, Jenkintown and Rockledge in Montgomery County — cast ballots in the special election.

With a Democratic voter registration advantage and wide name recognition, Washington coasted to victory without significant opposition.

Both candidates ran door-to-door campaigns that fell under the radar of major media. In the local press, Washington pushed a platform based on the hallmarks of her House terms: early childhood education and daycare and public transportation. Holt claimed his party affiliation would endear him to influential GOP leaders in the state legislature, a situation that he said would mean more state funding for the district. He also supported limiting pain-and-suffering damages to curb healthcare costs.

While the low-profile approach was a necessity for an underfunded unknown like Holt, an Abington accountant who served one term as the register of wills in Montgomery County, it was a choice for an experienced pol like Washington.

A number of factors favored Washington from the outset. Timing was key. With all indicators pointing to a sleeper election, she was free to reserve her war chest for next year's campaign. The Senate term is set to expire in 2006, and Washington spent the last few months quietly working the suburbs to shore up support for the spring primary.

She could face another challenge from Cindy Bass, the aide to U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah who fought for the Democratic nod earlier this year.

Washington will vacate her House seat in early June after she is sworn into the Senate. Another special election, the date of which will be set by House leaders, will determine her successor.

One name being bandied about by party insiders is Cherelle Parker, longtime legislative aide to Councilwoman Marian Tasco. Under the City Charter, Parker would have to resign from her city job to run for office.

Williams carries Northwest

While estimates placed citywide voter turnout at about 10 percent, some wards in the Northwest doubled the rate in last Tuesday's election. About 20 percent of registered Democrats in Chestnut Hill's 9th Ward and Mt. Airy's 22nd Ward cast ballots for District Attorney, the only major contested race in the primary. 

Though District Attorney Lynne Abraham won the Democratic nomination, her challenger, Seth Williams, swept the Northwest. Despite the endorsement of the 9th Ward Democratic Committee, Abraham failed to win Chestnut Hill. Williams scored nearly 54 percent of the 9th Ward vote. That margin widened in the 22nd, 59th and 12th wards. In fact, Williams carried 34 of the city's 66 wards, including all but one with African-American majorities.

Abraham won the Northeast and most of South Philadelphia with wide margins, in addition to staying close in many black wards.

In 2001, Abraham carried Chestnut Hill with 60 percent of the 9th Ward vote. The ward's Democrats endorsed challenger Alex Talmadge, a Northwest native, in that race.

Judicial races

In the judicial primaries, only four of the eight candidates endorsed by the Democratic City Committee for Common Pleas Court won nomination, an outcome that some say points to a party losing its grip. Others contend the winners reaped the benefits of good ballot positions.

Only three of the 9th Ward Democratic Committee's endorsed candidates for Common Pleas posts won nomination. They were also backed by the city committee.

In a show of political independence, 9th Ward Democrats have traditionally bucked party endorsements in favor of their own judicial slate, which is determined in a merit-based process.

Marilyn Heffly and Ellen Green-Ceisler, both Common Pleas candidates not endorsed by the party but backed by 9th Ward Democrats, fell short of nomination. Green-Ceisler, a longtime Chestnut Hill resident and former head of the Philadelphia Police Department's Integrity and Accountability office, finished ninth in a field of 23 candidates vying for eight spots.

John O'Connell, Democratic Leader of the 9th Ward, said the party failed to adequately support its endorsed slate. "The party has to do a better job of finding minority candidates and following through on their campaigns instead of leaving them out to dry," O'Connell said.

The party's help is costly and carries no guarantees. This year, endorsed candidates paid $35,000 to the Democratic City Committee, which provides sample ballots and workers to distribute them on Election Day.

A veritable industry has emerged around the judicial process where some ward leaders and freelance consultants cut side deals with candidates not endorsed by the party to promote them on Election Day for additional fees.

While O'Connell concedes that some abuse the process, he says the issue is greatly exaggerated.

Like other ward committees, the 9th receives money from candidates to pay for "legitimate small expenses" related to an Election Day operation, he said. Among the services provided are: running ads, printing ballots and paying workers to get out the vote. "It's not cheap to run a ward," he said. "If anybody thinks that stuff is free they're foolish."

Some Democratic Party leaders, including U.S. Rep. Bob Brady and Mayor Street, have advocated merit-based selection, an idea O'Connell strongly opposes.

"It's a terrible, awful idea," he said. "Who's going to pick the pickers? They'll select [the judges] they want anyway. In the end, it will be based on personal preference.