Philadelphia: 'Was Clinton decisive?'

Pre-election polls had indicated that political history was in the making in Philadelphia as Sam Katz held the lead in most surveys and seemed on the verge of becoming the ' city's first Republican mayor in a half-century. But in the end Philly's 4-to-1 Democratic registration edge was just too much for him to overcome as financial planner Katz lost by a narrow 51 % to 49% to former City Council President and onetime black militant John Street.

Although Katz had the endorsements of the city's two daily newspapers and former Democratic mayoral hopefuls Happy Fernandez and John White, Philly's Democratic machine was to much for the relatively weak Republican organization to handle and, apparently boosted by a last-minute campaign appearance by President Clinton, the controversial Street eked out a victory.

"You can't underestimate President Clinton's visit-it really galvanized the African-American community," exulted outgoing Mayor Edward Rendell, who was recently named general chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Philly Republicans also failed to increase their meager representation on the City Council. The only GOP winners were the two incumbent councilmen-at-large: Frank Rizzo, Jr., namesake-son of the late police chief and mayor, and 79-year-old Thatcher Longstreth, the GOP nominee for mayor in 1955 and '71.

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Nov 12, 1999
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved