Mayor easily fends off 2 challengers in primary
PHILADELPHIA — Democrat Jim Kenney is poised to keep his job as mayor of the nation’s sixth largest city after fending off two challengers in Tuesday’s primary who criticized his signature achievement: a soda tax to help provide free preschool classes.
The victory all but assures Kenney will stay on as mayor in Philadelphia, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a nearly 7-to-1 ratio, and the city has not elected a Republican mayor in nearly 70 years. Republican Billy Ciancaglini ran unopposed in the GOP primary.
Kenney has had an eventful first term, antagonizing President Trump over Philadelphia’s sanctuary city status and carrying out the tax on soda and other sweetened drinks, which inspired several other cities around the country to enact their own.
Two longtime city political figures ran against him: state Sen. Anthony Williams, who has served three decades in the state House and Senate combined, and Alan Butkovitz, the former city controller defeated in 2017.
Both derided the soda tax as regressive and were banking on voter outrage over the tax to propel them to victory. They also argued Kenney, 60, hadn’t done enough to combat other major problems plaguing the city, including crime and poverty.
No incumbent mayor has lost their bid for re-election in seven decades and Kenney never seemed concerned, calling his challengers “annoying gnats” in a radio interview.
The soda tax had been a flash point in the election.
It has generated more than $130 million, which is paying for free preschool programs and other community services like revamped recreation centers and libraries.
It has also drawn criticism from some consumers and businesses but withstood court challenges and a public relations onslaught by grocers and the beverage industry.
In a brief and a rapidfire victory speech, Kenney did not directly mention the soda tax but spoke about his efforts to improve the public education system in Philadelphia, noting he “took on an entire industry” in order to fund pre-kindergarten classes.
“I believe education is the best pathway out of poverty,” he said.
Philadelphia’s enactment of the 1.5 centper-ounce tax on soda and other sweetened beverages — at the distributor level — has inspired other municipalities to follow suit, with varying results.
A new study found that Philadelphia’s 2017 tax led to a 38% decline in sugary soda and diet drink sales that year, even when taking into account an increase in sales in neighboring towns. It bolsters evidence that soda taxes can reduce sales, but whether they influence health remains unclear.
Kenney didn’t try to sell the tax as a way to discourage people from drinking unhealthy beverages. Instead, he billed it as a way to help lift citizens out of poverty by improving early childhood education and rebuilding and renovating recreation centers, parks and libraries around the city.
Philadelphia is also the nation’s poorest big city, with a poverty rate of nearly 26%.