Two things seem clear about today's election - few voters will
show up at the polls but many who do will be casting ballots in
anger.
In a typical "off-year" election, the races to elect a district
attorney and city controller seldom stir up much interest.
Judicial races are greeted with even less enthusiasm.
But interest has turned to two judges running statewide to keep
their seats on the state Supreme Court.
Justices Sandra Schultz Newman and Russell Nigro have been caught
in the whirlwind of voter anger about state pay raises passed in the
middle of the night in July by the General Assembly.
Legislators last week voted to kill the hefty raises they had
given themselves and judges but the measure is hung up on technical
issues being dealt with this week.
Political activists have used the raises to focus a "kick 'em
out" fervor on Newman and Nigro because legislators don't come up
for re-election until next year.
Other highlights on today's ballot are:
Ethics Reform
Two years of headlines, federal investigations, trials and
convictions for municipal corruption may have primed Philadelphia
voters for a proposed charter change that would alter the way the
city gives out contracts for professional services and how bidders
for those contracts disclose political contributions.
A coalition of civic groups, including The Committee of Seventy,
Neighborhood Networks and Philadelphia Forward, will host rallies
and pass out information to voters at the polls about the reform
movement.
City Controller
With Jonathan Saidel not seeking a fifth term, presumably in
preparation for a 2007 run for mayor, this city watchdog seat is up
for grabs.
State Rep. Alan Butkovitz, a Democrat from Northeast
Philadelphia, is taking on Republican Hillel Levinson, managing
director during Mayor Frank Rizzo's administration in the 1970s.
Public corruption has been the hot-button issue in this race.
Both men say they are fit to keep an eye on how the city spends
tax money.
Butkovitz points to Levinson being indicted in the 1970s for
illegal fund-raising. Those charges were dropped. Levinson notes
that Butkovitz is an insider with the city's Democratic leaders,
unlikely to change the way things are done.
District Attorney
In the least exciting match-up on the ballot, District Attorney
Lynne Abraham is seeking her fourth four-year term in an uneven
match with Republican Louis Schwartz, an attorney who practices
criminal and civil law.
Abraham has barely acknowledged having an opponent and Schwartz
has been unable to change the perception that he will be steamrolled
at the
polls.
