Philadelphia mayoral election, 2015

Philadelphia mayoral election, 2015

November 3, 2015

Nominee Jim Kenney Melissa Murray Bailey Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 200,146 31,011 Percentage 85.1% 13.2%

Mayor before election Michael Nutter Democratic Elected Mayor Jim Kenney Democratic

The 2015 Philadelphia mayoral election was held on November 3, 2015, to elect the Mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, concurrently with various other state and local elections. Heavily favored Democratic party candidate Jim Kenney won.^[1]

Incumbent Democratic party Mayor Michael Nutter could not run for re-election to a third consecutive term due to term limits in the city's home rule charter.^[2] Registered Democrats hold a formidable 7-to-1 ratio over registered Republicans in Philadelphia, giving Democratic candidates a distinct advantage in citywide elections.^[3]

The mayoral primary elections were held on May 19, 2015. Democrats nominated Jim Kenney, a member of the Philadelphia City Council, as their party's nominee. Kenney won the primary in a landslide with 55.83% of the vote, defeating a crowded field of five other Democratic candidates, including Anthony H. Williams and former District Attorney Lynn Abraham.^[4] Republican Melissa Murray Bailey, a business executive, ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.^[4] Had she been elected, Bailey would have become Philadelphia's first female mayor, as well as the city's first Republican mayor in more than 60 years.^[3]

November 3 General election

Candidates

• Melissa Murray Bailey – Republican Party
• James Foster – Independent
• Osborne Hart – Socialist Workers Party
• Jim Kenney – Democratic Party
• Boris Kindij – Independent

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Lynne Abraham, former District Attorney of Philadelphia^[5]
• Nelson Diaz, former City Solicitor and former Common Pleas judge^[6][7]
• James F. Kenney, former Philadelphia City Councilman^{[8][9][10][11]}
• Doug Oliver, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Philadelphia Gas Works and former press secretary for Mayor Nutter^[12]
• Milton Street, former State Senator and candidate for Mayor in 2011^[13][14]
• Anthony H. Williams, Minority Whip of the Pennsylvania State Senate and candidate for Governor in 2010^[8][15][16]

Withdrew

• Jon Bell^[17]
• Terry Gillen, former Philadelphia Director of Federal Affairs and former Executive Director of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority^[18][19][20]
• Keith Goodman, pastor and candidate for Chester City Council in 2005^[21][22]
• Ken Trujillo, former City Solicitor^[23][24][25]

Declined

• Alan Butkovitz, Philadelphia City Controller^[8][26]
• Darrell L. Clarke, Philadelphia City Council President^[27]
• Dwight E. Evans, State Representative, candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 1986, candidate for Governor in 1994 and candidate for Mayor in 1999 and 2007^[28]
• Bill Green, former Philadelphia City Councilman and chair of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission^[8][29]
• Renée Cardwell Hughes, Chief Executive Officer of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Red Cross and former Common Pleas judge^[30]
• Kevin R. Johnson, Philadelphia clergyman and pastor of Bright Hope Baptist Church^[31]
• Sam Katz, businessman, public finance executive and Republican nominee for Mayor in 1999 and 2003^[32][33]
• Tom Knox, businessman, candidate for Mayor in 2007 and candidate for Governor in 2010^[34]
• Alba Martinez, former city Human Services Commissioner and former CEO of the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania^[35]
• Richard Negrin, Philadelphia Managing Director^[36]
• Frank L. Rizzo, Jr., former Republican Philadelphia City Councilman (running for the City Council)^[37]
• Jonathan Saidel, former Philadelphia City Controller^[38][39][40]
• R. Seth Williams, District Attorney of Philadelphia^[8][41]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Alan Butkovitz	Darrell Clarke	James Kenney	Frank Rizzo	Milton Street	Ken Trujillo	Anthony Williams	Refused
Public Policy Polling*	May 27–28, 2014	916	± 3.2%	12%	14%	7%	10%	4%	1%	2%	41%
				22%	—	—	—	—	—	11%	67%

• * Internal poll for the Alan Butkovitz campaign

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	James Kenney	Anthony Williams	Lynne Abraham	Undecided	Other
GBA Strategies*	April 9–15, 2015	587	± 4.1%	26%	25%	22%	18%	9%

• * AFSCME poll for the James Kenney campaign.

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	James Kenney	Anthony Williams	Lynne Abraham	Milton Street	Nelson Diaz	Doug Oliver	Undecided	Other
Public Policy Polling*	released April 6, 2015	644	± 3.7%	26%	25%	20%	4%	3%	3%	19%

• * Public Policy Polling poll for the James Kenney campaign.

Results

Democratic primary results[42]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James F. Kenney	129,093	55.83
	Democratic	Anthony H. Williams	60,463	26.13
	Democratic	Lynne Abraham	19,430	8.40
	Democratic	Doug Oliver	9,823	4.24
	Democratic	Nelson Diaz	8,588	3.71
	Democratic	Milton Street	3,899	1.68
	Democratic	Write-ins	22	0.01
Total votes			231,418	100

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Melissa Murray Bailey, businesswoman^{[43][44][45][46]}

Declined

• Ronald D. Castille, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, former District Attorney of Philadelphia and candidate for Mayor in 1991^[47]
• Sean Clark, nonprofit executive^[44][45]
• Allan Domb, real estate developer and President of the Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors^[48][46]
• Rhashea Harmon, attorney and nominee for the State Senate in 2010 (running as an Independent)^[45][46]
• Kelvin Jeremiah, President & CEO of the Philadelphia Housing Authority^[49][46]
• Sam Katz, businessman, public finance executive and Republican nominee for Mayor in 1999 and 2003^[32]
• Elmer Money, candidate for City Council in 2011^{[38][44][45][46]}
• Doug Oliver, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Philadelphia Gas Works and former press secretary for Mayor Nutter (running as a Democrat)^[50]
• Dana Spain, businesswoman and philanthropist^[51][52][43]

Results

Republican primary results[42]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Melissa Murray Bailey	12,486	99.69
	Republican	Write-ins	39	0.31
Total votes			12,525	100

Independent

Candidates

Declared

• Rhashea Harmon, attorney and Republican nominee for the State Senate in 2010^[45][46]

Potential

• Bill Green, former Philadelphia City Councilman and former chair of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission^[53][54]

Declined

• Sam Katz, businessman, public finance executive and Republican nominee for Mayor in 1999 and 2003^{[55][32][33][53][54]}
• Dana Spain, businesswoman and philanthropist^[52][43]

References

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2. "Committee of Seventy – November 3, 2015 General Election". Seventy.org. 2015-11-03. Retrieved 2016-01-05.
3. Rudeman, Wendy (2015-03-30). "The Interview: Melissa Murray Bailey, Philly's only Republican mayoral candidate". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
4. Hepp, Chris (2015-05-20). "Landslide: Kenney romps in Philly mayor's race". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
5. Vargas, Claudia (September 17, 2014). "Abraham to run for Mayor". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
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33. Davies, Dave (February 12, 2015). "Katz for mayor – again?". NewsWorks. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
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35. Bender, William (January 22, 2015). "Trujillo throws support to Alba Martinez, she declines". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
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39. Otterbein, Holly (January 14, 2015). "Jonathan Saidel Is Thinking About Running for Mayor". Philadelphia Magazine. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
40. Dunn, Mike (January 26, 2015). "Jonathan Saidel Decides Against 2015 Run for Philadelphia Mayor". KYW-TV. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
41. Wigglesworth, Alex (November 5, 2013). "DA Seth Williams: I'm not running for mayor in 2015". philly.com. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
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45. Brennan, Chris (February 19, 2015). "GOP's mayoral candidate will likely be ... little-known". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
46. Brennan, Chris (March 10, 2015). "GOP mayoral candidate six weeks ago was a Democrat". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
47. Brennan, Chris (February 5, 2015). "GOP reaches out to Castille to run for mayor; he declines". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
48. Featherman, John (January 8, 2015). "Featherman: Is 'Mayor Domb' in Philly's future?". philly.com. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
49. Brennan, Chris (February 12, 2015). "Phila. Republicans tried to draft PHA chief Kelvin Jeremiah to run for mayor". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
50. Mike Dunn (November 18, 2014). "Doug Oliver Says If He Runs For Phila. Mayor, It’ll Be as a Democrat". CBS Philadelphia. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
51. Featherman, John (April 29, 2013). "A dark horse emerges as a potential GOP mayoral candidate". philly.com. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
52. "Dana Spain Would Run for Philadelphia Mayor as Independent", Phillymag.com. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
53. Brennan, Chris (March 11, 2015). "A run for mayor for Bill Green?". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
54. Terruso, Julia; Brennan, Chris (May 12, 2015). "Sam Katz says he won't run for mayor". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
55. "Is Sam Katz Running for Mayor Again?", Phillymag.com. Retrieved April 16, 2014.