🥊 The gloves come off

It’s getting chippy out there!

With the May 16 primary less than two months away, the Democratic candidates for mayor have officially taken the gloves off. So far, most of the attacks have been directed at grocer Jeff Brown, whose big spending on TV ads early in the race appears to have launched him into the top tier of the field.

Brown’s opponents pounced after we reported last week that the Board of Ethics is investigating campaign finance activities related to him.

In this week’s newsletter, we’ll look at why only one candidate is focusing attacks on outgoing Mayor Jim Kenney and how gun violence trauma can turn residents away from politics altogether. We’ll also introduce you to the last Republican mayor of Philadelphia.

There are 56 days 🗓 until the election.

— Anna Orso and Sean Collins Walsh

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In his successful campaign for mayor in 2007, Michael Nutter famously focused more of his criticism on the outgoing mayor, John F. Street, than on his opponents — even though Street was not running for reelection.

It worked because voter dissatisfaction with Street’s administration was high. Philadelphians are again unhappy with the state of affairs in City Hall, with 65% of residents saying Philly is headed in the wrong direction, according to a recent poll.

But of the 12 Democratic candidates, only former Councilmember Allan Domb has made a big investment in contrasting himself with outgoing Mayor Jim Kenney, who cannot seek a third consecutive term. One Domb ad titled “Enough of that” features footage of Kenney’s infamous July 2022 gaffe in which he said he’s looking forward to no longer being mayor 🌴. 🔑

“How can you lead a city when you don’t really want the job?” Domb says in the ad, which his campaign spent more than $300,000 to air.

In an interview, Domb said his ad strategy was “not personal” and that Kenney “is a nice guy.”

“Every election people have a choice between change and more of the same,” he said. “I’ll bring real change.”

So why is Domb is the only candidate “running against” Kenney? With such a crowded race, the others may feel they need to focus on making voters aware of their own stories. Other campaigns may have decided that focusing on Kenney — as opposed to, say, the gun violence crisis — isn’t the most effective way to tap into voter unhappiness with the status quo.

As for Kenney, it doesn’t sound like he’ll be running for anything anytime soon. 🔑

(Speaking of Nutter and Street, the two have both endorsed former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart in this year’s mayor’s race. Her first TV ads are running this week, and they feature the once-acrimonious pair of mayors sitting side by side and singing her praises.)

“Prove something to me to make me wanna get out of my bed, literally before I get shot, to go vote. We put people in the office to help us, and they sell us dreams.”

That was the message Patricia Garvin, 53, of Mount Airy, wanted to send to candidates running for mayor. She’s given up hope that elected officials can do anything to stop endemic violence, and she said this year is the first big election she might skip.

Garvin was one of a dozen residents our colleagues Ellie Rushing and Nate File spoke to about how gun violence has affected their lives. A recent poll conducted by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism and research firm SSRS shows nearly half of Philly residents say gun violence has had a “major” negative impact on their quality of life. Communities of color bear the brunt of the crisis.

People were also interested in solutions that go beyond law enforcement — but in the meantime, many residents say they are taking matters into their own hands.

📮 What gun-violence solution should the next mayor prioritize? Keep your answer to 50 words or fewer, and we may feature you in an upcoming newsletter. Email us here.

It’s been 71 years since Philadelphia had a Republican mayor. Bernard “Barney” Samuel, the city’s 89th mayor, served from 1941 to 1952. That makes him not only the last Republican to lead the city, but also Philly’s longest-serving mayor.

Samuel was a stout, well-liked Philadelphian from Shunk Street 🔑 in South Philadelphia who became mayor after the sitting chief exec, Robert Lamberton, died in office after just 20 months on the job. (Lamberton had Parkinson’s disease.)

Samuel went on to be reelected twice and then got the city charter amended so he could run again in 1947. While a part of the Republican machine, Samuel is known for supporting some things that his party may shun him for today, like backing new city sales and wage taxes.

💲 Talk about serving in historic times. Samuel headed City Council’s Finance Committee during the Depression and then led the city during WWII.

🔔 Speaking of WWII, Samuel got to do something you only see today during the 76ers pre-game ceremonies. He took a mini mallet to the Liberty Bell to mark D-Day in 1944 and again to celebrate the end of the war in 1945.

🚂 Samuel is credited with keeping relative calm during the 1941 transit strike, one of the largest transit strike’s in the nation’s history.

🥓 Under his administration, Edmund Bacon became city planner and that the City Planning Commission was formed.

Do you have a favorite Philly mayoral moment as we enter into more modern times? Email us!

— Julia Terruso

The tenor of the mayor’s race changed this week with the news that the city Board of Ethics is investigating campaign finance activities connected to candidate Jeff Brown. Here’s what you need to know about this small but important agency:

Who runs the Board of Ethics? The board consists of five members who are appointed by the mayor. It is currently chaired by Michael Reed, an attorney with the Troutman Pepper firm, and its professional staff is led by Executive Director Shane Creamer.

What does it do? The board interprets and enforces the city’s public integrity laws, including those on lobbyist registration, personal financial disclosures, and political activities by city workers. But during the mayor’s race, you’ll mostly be hearing about the its work enforcing campaign finance rules.

What are those campaign finance rules? The city has lots of laws and regulations aimed at promoting transparency and fair play around the money that flows into local politics. Candidates, for instance, are subject to limits on the size of the donations that they can collect. (In the mayor’s race, the limits are $6,200 from individual donors and $25,200 from political action committees.) The board can also investigate whether any candidates have coordinated with independent expenditure campaigns, or “super PACs,” which can take in unlimited donations but are prohibited from working directly with candidates.

Why is it investigating Jeff Brown? It’s unclear what exactly the board is looking into. By policy, the board can neither confirm nor deny whether it is conducting an investigation.

What happens if the board finds wrongdoing? The board’s investigations typically end with campaigns paying fines and admitting that they violated the city’s ethics laws, which is not something you want to admit when you’re running for mayor. In rare instances when the board unearths potentially criminal wrongdoing, the board can refer its findings to law enforcement.

How long do investigations take? It varies depending on the complexity of the case and the cooperation of those involved. Sometimes the board wraps up investigations in a matter of weeks. Other times, they can stretch on for months and don’t become public until after Election Day.

Question: All the candidates were asked last week, “When you have out-of-town company in Philadelphia, where do you take them?” One contender flexed hard and said Palizzi Social Club, the exclusive Italian restaurant where getting a membership is almost as hard as getting Taylor Swift tickets. Who was it?

A) Helen Gym

B) Jeff Brown

C) Derek Green

D) Allan Domb

Find out if you know the answer.

Meet John Wood, the former police officer and brand-new mayoral candidate who, as luck would have it, is set to appear first on the ballot.

Having good ballot position helps because some voters — presumably not the lovely, civically engaged folks who read this newsletter! — apparently just go with the first name they see.

But don’t expect Wood to vault to the top of the field. He hasn’t yet organized much of a campaign, and his 15 minutes of Philly fame have so far been, shall we say, less than ideal.

— Anna and Sean