Philadelphia mayoral election, 2007

The 2007 Philadelphia mayoral election was held on November 6, 2007 when Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States elected Michael Nutter as the mayor of Philadelphia starting in 2008. The incumbent mayor, John F. Street was barred from seeking a third term because of term limits. The Democratic primary campaign saw two well-known, well-funded Philadelphia congressmen – Bob Brady and Chaka Fattah – eclipsed by self-funding businessman Tom Knox and reformist former councilman Nutter, who won by a surprisingly large margin in the primary election on May 15. He went on to face Republican nominee Al Taubenberger in the general election, which he won by a large margin and with the lowest voter turnout in a Philadelphia mayoral election without an incumbent since 1951. Mayor Nutter was sworn in on January 7, 2008.

Background

The 2007 Philadelphia mayoral election was held to select the replacement for incumbent mayor John F. Street who is prevented from being re-elected a third time because of term limits. Nearly four out of five Philadelphia voters are registered Democrats and the city has not elected a Republican mayor in close to sixty years.cite journal | quotes=no | first=Patrick | last=Walters | year=2007 | month=May 15 | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501160.html?hpid=topnews | title=Ex-Philly Pol Wins Dem. Mayoral Primary | journal=Associated Press ]

Issues

The two major issues in the mayoral campaign were crime and corruption. Philadelphians felt crime was the most important issue because of the city's rising murder rate. There were more than 400 murders in 2006, the most in almost a decade. Corruption was also an important issue. A corruption probe resulted in the conviction a close to two dozen people, some with close ties to mayor John Street. An early poll on issues concerning young adults, crime was the number one issue with public transit, economic development, education and job growth rounding out the top five. [cite web | title=Voice of Young Philadelphia: Decide, Discuss, Vote Survey: Top 5 Issues of 2007 | publisher=Young America PAC, Young Involved Philadelphia, Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce's Young Professional Network | url=http://www.thenextmayor.com/documents/youngphiladelphiasurvey.pdf | format=PDF | accessdate=2007-07-11 ]

Primary

Michael Nutter won the Democratic mayoral primary on May 15. Opponent Tom Knox came in second, with Bob Brady, Chaka Fattah and Dwight Evans coming in third, fourth, and fifth respectively. Al Taubenberger became the Republican candidate after running unopposed.

Businessman Tom Knox had started off strong as his self-financed campaign created a barrage of advertising. However, Michael Nutter's message of government reform and criticism of John Street gained him enough support to win the primary. Bob Brady and Chaka Fattah were also early favorites.cite journal | quotes=no | first=Marcia | last=Gelbart | coauthors=Patrick Kerkstra | year=2007 | month=November 7 | url=http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/11074891.html | title=Nutter: 'A New Day' | journal=The Philadelphia Inquirer | format=dead link|date=June 2008 – ^{[http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=author%3A+intitle%3ANutter%3A+%27A+New+Day%27&as_publication=The+Philadelphia+Inquirer&as_ylo=2007&as_yhi=2007&btnG=Search Scholar search]} ]

References

External links

* [http://www.thenextmayor.com The Next Mayor: an election website sponsored by Philadelphia Daily News, WHYY, and the Committee of 70.]
* [http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/special_packages/mayor/ Philadelphia Inquirer website on the race]

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