A bar-stool-throwing race for the Northeast's Congressional seat
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
When Bill Clinton comes to town, you have to figure something's going on.
When Bill Clinton comes to town to stump for a Congressional seat that’s almost certain to remain Democratic, you have to figure something’s going on.
It is: The seat, the 13th Congressional District, representing eastern Montgomery County and a chunk of Philadelphia’s Great Northeast, has been up for grabs since it was vacated by Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, now running for governor — and one of the contenders for that seat, former 13th Congressional District Congresswoman Marjorie Margolies, also happens to be the mother-in-law of Chelsea Clinton.
Margolies, who occupied the seat from 1992-1994, faces a three-way challenge from state Rep. Brendan Boyle, state Sen. Daylin Leach and physician Valerie Arkoosh. The last few months have seen the race become extremely competitive, extremely unpredictable and, for political junkies, darned interesting.
Margolies seemed, in the beginning, to have some clear advantages. Not only did she have the support of the Clintons, but she also had good polls, positive name recognition and a story to tell: she made a tough call at the eleventh hour to back a Clinton-proposed tax hike — a decision that cost her her seat, but which she now touts as a mark of political courage.
But then there’s the Philly factor. If all politics is local, Philly politics is super-local. Boyle, who has made a name as an upstart politician not to be put aside lightly, has gathered significant support from Philadelphia unions and the city’s Democratic machine, allowing him to keep pace with the other candidates’ fundraising and giving him a strong edge among the district’s city voters.
Leach, a high-profile progressive who was an early supporter of gay marriage and marijuana legalization, has amassed a big war chest. So has Arkoosh, who has major support from a political-action committee, funded by doctors’ groups, which backs her vocal support of the Affordable Care Act.
Oh, and the race has turned into the kind of fight in which bar stools are flung. The other candidates have gone after Margolies hard, with Leach digging in with particular gusto: He has accused Margolies of violating campaign-finance laws, and filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission. For her part, Margolies has pointed out that Leach lives outside the Congressional district (though by a distance Leach characterized as “200 feet”). Boyle has been criticized by Planned Parenthood for his House voting record on abortion clinics.
