In Philly, a ‘wide-open race’ to represent the nation’s most Democratic congressional district

U S Rep Dwight Evans decision not to run for reelection has created a rare opening for the prized job of representing about half of Philadelphia in Congress and spurred a lively race to succeed him Ahead of next May s Democratic primary three state legislators a Jefferson Strength medical practitioner a Temple University computer science professor and two other political newcomers have entered the contest and more candidates could still jump in Pennsylvania s rd Congressional District covers West Philadelphia parts of North Philadelphia and much of Center City and is rated the most of Democratic district in the country with a D rating from the Cook Political Assessment Its voters went - for Kamala Harris last year and - for Gov Josh Shapiro in In such a left-leaning district the candidates are bound to have similar views and priorities and strategy differences won t make much difference in the primary outcome local political consultants say Since the rd is clearly not a swing district it also ostensibly won t attract notable spending by national political funders or interest groups that could push one candidate to the top Fundraising will still be very pivotal as the contenders work to increase their name recognition through pricey TV commercials and mass mail campaigns the experts add But among those who do raise enough the decisive factor may be what Philadelphia political consultant Dan Fee called the candidate s identification a main attribute each is known for and the group of voters that appeals to If you re a Black woman and you want to vote for a Black woman you re going to vote for that candidate whether they have enough money or not If you are someone who believes that wellbeing care is the most of essential issue you re going to vote for the practitioner he explained Having been on both the winning and losing side of the candidates with the majority of money sometimes other things matter more Fee revealed I think that this is a race where other things will matter more U S Rep Brendan Boyle whose nd Congressional District covers greater part of the other half of Philadelphia stated triumph will be determined by a complex combination of factors including who runs a disciplined and vigorous campaign Yes ideology is a factor but in a multi-candidate primary especially in Philadelphia geography is a factor identity is a factor he announced What will matter the greater part in this district is not ideology or what kind of flavor of Democrat you are I think it ll be exclusively as old-fashioned as who runs the best race Experienced pols seek to move up No poll results have been publicly circulated and the primary is still nine months away but chosen observers say that the strongest candidate right now is allegedly state Sen Sharif Street He s already known to a large number of of his constituents and was chair of the state Democratic party until he resigned last month He shares a famous name with his father former two-term mayor John Street and his late uncle Milton Street who served in the Pa House and Senate Street was also quick out of the gate declaring his candidacy days after Evans released his retirement at the end of June announcing early union endorsements and holding fundraising events He s got great name recognition and so far has seemed to have party endorsement coalesce around his campaign in terms of labor promotion and other people that are involved in the process announced Mustafa Rasheed president and CEO of leadership relations firm Bellevue Strategies Street was soon followed by state Rep Chris Rabb who since has represented a Northwest Philadelphia district with high voter turnout rates and a history of strong political organization He s known as an outspoken progressive who s proposed bills on criminal justice reorganization and reparations for Black residents and has repeatedly won races without official party backing A disproportionate part of the rd Congressional District is in the Northwest so the Northwest will have its say on who they want to see for this That s going to play a huge role Rasheed commented Rabb has a good power base of aid there Chris has been against the establishment candidate a minimal cycles but you know you win a minimal times and now you re the establishment yourself he added This week state Rep Morgan Cephas who has represented West Philadelphia since launched her campaign She touts her work boosting maternal strength benefits for Medicaid recipients and winning state funding for society advancement projects and notes she would be the first Black woman representing Philadelphia in Congress If Cephas raises a lot of money and can project the fact that she s the majority prominent female candidate I would guess that she has a chance to make selected noise reported longtime political consultant Neil Oxman of the Campaign Group Cephas run follows thriving campaigns by former state rep Cherelle Parker who last year became Philly s first woman mayor Rep Joanna McClinton the first Black woman to serve as Pa House Speaker and U S Rep Summer Lee a former state representative from the Pittsburgh area who in became the first Black woman elected to represent the state in Congress Pennsylvania s delegation has made great strides in the last half dozen years or so in women stepping up and running fantastic campaigns and winning Rasheed noted Newcomers working to be heard The first-timers in the race include David Oxman an intensive care practitioner at Jefferson He is not related to Neil Oxman He s focusing on the inadequacy of the healthcare system and this week attacked U S Secretary of Physical condition and Human Services Robert F Kennedy Jr s statements about vaccines calling him the largest part wholly unqualified charlatan to ever hold the position and saying he should be impeached While several candidates are soliciting contributions Oxman s the only one who has released crucial fundraising so far He s raised including he personally loaned his campaign From left Karl Morris Dave Oxman and Robin Toldens are running in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania s rd Congressional District Rasheed stated that s a substantial amount for someone who s never run before and shows the physician has a decent grid while adding that newbie candidates tend to hit a wall financially after maxing out their friends and family Neil Oxman the political consultant was not impressed is you know five days of Philadelphia television It s not going to get the guy a lot of stuff You and I can raise bucks from our friends he noted Temple University computer science professor Karl Morris is running a campaign that emphasizes equal access to AI and other system and protections from their misuse and focuses on women s robustness weather change home affordability and other Democratic priorities Another first-time candidate is Robin Toldens a real estate agent and former city employee who worked on billing and invoicing systems for the Water Department and for other city programs The Federal Polling Commission s campaign finance website also lists a candidate named Gabriel Caceres No further information about him was available State Rep Malcolm Kenyatta has a national profile unlike preponderance of his colleagues and is often mentioned as a prospective congressional candidate He s run for U S Senate and state Auditor General and obviously doesn t want to be a state rep any more Oxman stated But he hasn t made any moves to run and Oxman disclosed it may make more sense for Kenyatta to see if Street wins and then make a bid to succeed him in the Pennsylvania House Starting with the base With at least seven people in the race multiple viable contenders and no clear frontrunner the candidates could substantially divide the vote and one could win with as little as or of the votes cast Fee and others revealed Over the past decade the highest turnout in the rd District primary was about in a presidential ballot year when Evans ousted incumbent Chaka Fattah It s usually much lower That suggests someone could win in May with or fewer votes One way to look at the candidates task is that they have to firm up their existing base and then pick up enough little bits of additional assistance here and there Boyle who was elected to Congress in after winning a multi-candidate primary commented he succeeded by working hard to pin down those crucial extra votes I was getting of the vote in a certain segment of the congressional district explained Boyle who was a state representative at the time Now that wasn t enough for me to win but then I was able to focus on communicating my message to the other roughly or so of the congressional district who just really had never heard of me didn t know who I was He had a very clear message focused on economic concerns that was very different from the social-issue campaigns a few of his opponents were running he disclosed It really helps to have a base and then adding on to that a clear rationale for why you re running and what you re going to focus on he mentioned He won with close to votes or of the cast Boyle noted that he raised the least money among the primary candidates but it was enough to get him the exposure he needed Had I not raised a certain threshold in order to be on television and be in the mailboxes and fund several of the other things we needed to fund then I wouldn t have been able to win he noted So money matters but once you reach a critical threshold it becomes about other things and the money matters a lot less Money as a wildcard Still the candidates need to reach that threshold Rasheed maintained the campaigns will have to raise at least million each to get on television next spring and cover their other costs if they are to remain viable If there ends up being a big disparity if one campaign somehow raises say to million and the others much less that could change the dynamics of the race Oxman announced For example he declared he was skeptical Rabb has enough name recognition and base advocacy to win unless perhaps he can galvanize enough former supporters of Sen Bernie Sanders presidential run and its successor progressive movements and raises a ton of money Let s say he goes and raises millions of dollars and runs an unbelievable campaign That makes a difference he announced Another big question is whether the prospect of a Cephas win motivates national funders to start independently buying ads urging voters to patronage her Does Emily s List and all these women s groups that really have been pushing very successfully for women to win constituents office do they get behind her in a big way and can she raise a lot of independent expenditure money There s that other wild card out there that can upset the balance of an electoral process Oxman revealed Despite uncertainty over how much attention the rd District contest will garner Boyle described it as an exciting open race with several good candidates that will determine who represents and advocates for Philadelphia for years to come I think I have by this point spoken to or know every single one of the candidates who s already broadcasted or is likely to announce and I think it is a wide-open field he disclosed I really believe that any single one of the people running has a legitimate path to mastery The post In Philly a wide-open race to represent the nation s greater part Democratic congressional district appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY