Philly pol wins backing in Dem race for the 5th in Congress
DARBY BOROUGH » Unfazed by critiques that a Philadelphia candidate wouldn’t understand Delco issues, a cadre of elected officials including state Sen. Anthony H. Williams, D-8 of Philadelphia, backed former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor for Labor Rich Lazer Thursday as their choice for the Democratic nomination in the 5th District race.
“More of us as Democrats need to understand there is no wall between Philadelphia and Delaware County,” Williams said. “That’s Donald Trump ... Delaware County is no different than Philadelphia, given its demographics, given its immigration, given its challenge with education, given its challenge with guns. Fair pay equity doesn’t have anything to do with Philadelphia v. Delaware County. In fact, we are stronger by unifying our concerns and needs moving forward.”
Lazer faces opposition in the primary from teacher and environmental advocate Lawrence Arata of Haverford; George Badey, chairman of Radnor Township’s Democratic Committee; former CIA intelligence officer Shelly Chauncey of Glen Mills; Chester Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland; former Morgan Stanley wealth manager Lindy Li of Philadelphia; former U.S. Assistant Attorney Ashley Lunkenheimer; attorney Dan Muroff of Marple; attorney Mary Gay Scanlon of Swarthmore; scientist Dr. Molly Sheehan of South Philadelphia; state Rep. Greg Vitali, D-166 of Haverford; state Rep. Margo Davidson, R-164 of Upper Darby journalist/entrepreneur David Wertime of Lower Merion and entrepreneur Theresa Wright of Norristown.
Scanlon, a former Wallingford-Swarthmore School District board member, has received backing from former Gov. Ed Rendell and other countywide elected Democrats.
The county party is meeting to endorse a candidate on Sunday.
Whoever emerges from that contest will face the winner on the GOP side — either Pearl Kim, a former senior deputy attorney general of Pennsylvania and a past assistant district attorney for Delaware County from Radnor, or former corporate commodity executive Paul Addis of Haverford.
The endorsement announcement was made at Keya Graves on North Ninth Street and was attended by state Reps. Joanna McClinton, D-191, and Maria Donatucci, D-185, both of Philadelphia, Yeadon Mayor Rohan Hepkins, Lansdowne councilmen Ben Hover, Wardell Holt and Janet English; Sharon Hill Councilman Hykeem Green; Darby Borough Councilman Darren Burrell.
On Thursday, Lazer said he was humbled by the support.
“I’m going to represent everyone in this district,” he said. “I’m not going to leave one area out, one neighborhood out. Collectively, we are a region. It’s all about being a region and how important we are to each other.”
His campaign has faced some criticism, with about 80 percent of the district encompassing Delaware County, about his Philadelphia base. Just the previous night, Badey said it was very, very important to have a congressperson who has Delco’s best interests at heart.
Hepkins said Lazer’s Philadelphia connection was of no concern with him.
“I think our issues are the same,” Hepkins said. “We are on the cusp of change in Southeastern Pennsylvania in that we have a major change agent in the redistricting. With redestricting, Delaware County, especially eastern Delaware County, is more aligned with West Philadelphia and Southwest Philadelphia.
“We are joined at the hip with Philadelphia,” Hepkins continued, “and we need someone with the clout and the power to represent that region as a whole to give us a bigger bang for our buck in Washington so that we get our fair share. I think he’s the guy that can do that.” Lansdowne’s Holt shared a similar sentiment. “There are people who want to see the boroughs in this new district be split apart and fight each other and those who want to bring us together on our commonalities,” he said, identifying them as strong working families, fair wages and looking out for the little guy. “Of the candidates I’ve seen, Rich Lazer has been the one to demonstrate that he’s for that.”
Williams said he had no doubt Lazer would do that while overcoming the idea he’s only concerned about Philadelphia, just like he did when he initially ran, despite the years he spent swimming at the Nile Swim Club and visiting the home of Philadelphia Tribune publisher Robert Bogle in Yeadon.
“With all due respect to people who are in the race, he has a record of performing job creation,” Williams said. “That’s what separates him from everyone – literally everyone who is running – he’s been in the space that all of us would like to talk about and brag about but he’s the one who’s accounted for the job creation and job growth and we clearly need it in this region.”
Lazer was involved with Gov. Tom Wolf’s Port Advisory Task Force, which is directing a $300 million investment in the Port of Philadelphia that is expected to result in more than 6,000 direct and indirect jobs within the next two to four years.
An advocate of both programs, Lazer also said 100 students in a culinary program with the Philadelphia School District and another 45 applicants in a Philadelphia Building Trades diversity initiative have found full-time job.
In addition, he spoke to the unionization of 1,400 passenger service workers at the Philadelphia International Airport.
“Most of them were African Americans and immigrant workers and they were living in poverty,” he said, referencing their $7-an-hour wage. “We fought for them, now they’re at $12 an hour and soon to be at $15 an hour.
“That’s why I want to talk about the region, it’s about how we all do better,” he said. “It is about the region. We’re stronger together. We’re not strong if people divide us. The issues that come up are the same for all of us. We want good schools for our kids, we want our neighborhoods to be safe and we want to make sure we bring the resources home to support our townships and boroughs.”