It was another surprising race: true-blue Democrats, Black queer candidates, and … Nikki Haley all had big nights on Tuesday. Progressives, not so much.
Clockwise from top left: Malcolm Kenyatta (photo via Flickr); Eugene DePasquale (photo by Anthony Grove/Commonwealth Media Services via creative commons license); Kevin Boyle (photo via Flickr); Nikki Haley (photo by Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, USA).
Philadelphia’s primary election on Tuesday was historic for a number of reasons. For the first time ever, an LGBTQ candidate won a statewide primary. A second openly gay Black candidate is going to the State House. There was a shocking upset in the race for treasurer.
Elsewhere, a familiar face in statewide politics is one step closer to Attorney General, while the Working Families Party fell short in West Philly once again. Here’s our full list of the winners and losers in Philly’s primary election.
The Primary-Election Winners …
1. Democratic Party-Endorsed Candidates
In almost every race this primary-election cycle, if you were endorsed by the Democratic Party, you won. Even in races with first-time endorsees, such as State Rep candidates Andre Carroll and Sean Dougherty, the endorsement was worth its weight. Despite a growing number of progressive challengers and third-party influences, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania remained true to the party.
2. Black Queer Candidates
Something unprecedented happened on Tuesday night that was a win for both younger candidates and those who are Black and queer: Andre D. Carroll, a 33-year-old Germantown native, became the second openly queer Black candidate to win a seat in the Pennsylvania state House. The first to ever do so was 34-year-old State Rep Malcolm Kenyatta, who on the same election night became the first LGBTQIA candidate to win a statewide primary — he’s the Democratic nominee for auditor general. Kenyatta, a North Philly native who was first elected in 2018, also won his contested State Rep primary.
3. Eugene DePasquale
The seasoned politico has succeeded in yet another statewide primary. After previously serving as a State Rep and more recently as Auditor General, DePasquale is now the Democratic nominee for Attorney General. It was a crowded five-candidate race — one in which he had neither the most money nor prosecutorial experience, but name recognition likely gave him the advantage as he earned an impressive 15-point victory over runner-up Jack Stollsteimer.
4. Erin McClelland
Perhaps the biggest shocker of the night came in the race for treasurer. Erin McClelland had no major endorsements and no perceived momentum. Her now-defeated opponent, Ryan Bizzaro, was seen by most as the front-runner in this race, having been backed by the Democratic State Committee, major unions, and influential party leaders. McClelland, notably, will be the only woman on the Democrats’ statewide ticket in November.
5. Nikki Haley
Yes, Nikki Haley, the onetime GOP presidential candidate who gave it her all against Donald Trump (but came up very short), is still getting votes. Despite dropping out of the race a month ago, Haley — who still hasn’t endorsed Trump’s reelection bid — garnered 17 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s primary. That Trump’s non-competing opponent got close to 20 percent of the GOP vote in a swing state like Pennsylvania can’t be good news in Trump World. Throughout her campaign, Haley made the case for a base of Republican voters who wouldn’t vote for Trump even if he earned their party’s nomination. Tuesday’s results seem to confirm that — and the GOP has its work cut out.
… and the Losers
1. Sajda Blackwell
Right now, incumbent Amen Brown and Working Families Party-backed Cass Green are in a tight race (once again) for State Rep of West Philly’s 10th District. As of the time of this posting, Brown, a more moderate Democrat, had a mere 50-vote lead on Green, a progressive. Mail-in votes are still being counted to determine the ultimate winner in the days to come. With 20 percent of the vote tallied so far, the third candidate in the race is radio personality Sajda “Purple” Blackwell, who also took third when Brown and Green went neck-and-neck in the 2022 primary and is once again being cast as the spoiler in this race. Last primary, some political pundits argued that since Brown won by less than 200 votes, Blackwell’s presence in the race hurt Green’s chances. With the race this cycle even closer, some are drawing the same conclusion. My theory is that Blackwell likely siphoned more support from the moderate Brown than from the progressive Green. But regardless, Blackwell is third yet again.
2. Staunch Progressives
Cass Green’s race in West Philly is still TBD, but progressives didn’t fare too well in other races. In the Attorney General race, Keir Bradford-Gray didn’t even crack the top three; some progressives were leaning toward Joe Khan, who also fared poorly. This primary was a revelation that progressives’ grassroots efforts need to focus more on citywide races if they plan to eventually win more seats. Sure, State Senator Nikil Saval and State Reps Rick Krajewski and Liz Fiedler won in 2020, when progressives were having a moment, and have benefited from incumbency. But it’s proven harder for new progressive candidates to win in some of these districts, despite the citywide success of several at-large members of City Council. As the saying goes, go where you’re celebrated. The city at large is calling.
3. Ryan Bizzaro
Bizzaro had it all until he didn’t. In a baffling upset, Bizzaro lost what many political analysts predicted would be a cakewalk for treasurer. A previously elected candidate backed by the state’s Democratic Party losing to someone who’s never been in office and appears to have less name recognition? It seemed unthinkable. One theory to consider is that because the Pennsylvania Democratic Committee didn’t endorse a single woman on its primary ballot, voters chose this race to rectify the omission.
4. Kevin Boyle
The party can make you, and the party can break you. That was the case for now-defeated State Rep Kevin Boyle, whose slew of recent bad press presaged a rocky primary. Boyle, the brother of U.S. Congressman Brendan Boyle, didn’t get the Democratic Party’s endorsement this go-around — it instead backed Sean Dougherty, the son of State Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dougherty (and, yes, the nephew of disgraced union boss Johnny Doc). This strategic endorsement could work well for the Democrats in their quest to keep their razor-thin control of the state House; this is one of the few Philly state House districts that include a Republican challenger in November.
Ernest Owens
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