Being a Republican candidate in Philly is an uphill battle
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.
Neilson hasn't said much about his legislative agenda. Tamaccio has been largely pro-weed. Wolfe wants to lower taxes by cutting social services.
Matt Wolfe (left) and Ed Neilson (right).
JMW Photo
JMW Photo
This Primary Day, Philadelphians will have one Democrat vs. Republican vs. Libertarian option on their ticket: Democrat (and state Rep.) Ed Neilson, Republican attorney Matt Wolfe, and Libertarian pot activist Richard “Nikki Allen Poe” Tamaccio, all running against each other in a special election for City Council At-Large, to fill the seat vacated by now-SRC Chairman Bill Green.
As WHYY’s Dave Davies put it succinctly in a column titled, “It’s Over,” barring some titanic shift in the way Philadelphians fail to turn out for municipal elections, Neilson’s victory was almost guaranteed the moment he was selected — did you get that? ‘Selected,’ with an ‘S’ — by a bunch of ward leaders and politicos to be the Democratic “nominee” in this heavily Democratic city.
Underdog Wolfe drew the first ballot position, and has passionate allies who will show up to vote — not a bad potion for an upset. But the problem with a low-turnout strategy is that the vote has been merged into Primary Day, when a whole lot of Philadelphians will get their first chance to weigh in on a challenger to Gov. Tom Corbett.
Neilson hasn’t said much about his legislative agenda. Tamaccio has been largely pro-weed. Wolfe told City Paper he would lower taxes by cutting city social services, and generally fight to “end control of the city by a professional political class for the last 50 years.”
“It’s an uphill climb, I get that,” he added.
