Jonathan Saidel out (The Next Mayor)

(bumped to the top by Dan)
Big news today in the race:

Jonathan Saidel, who has been actively campaigning for mayor -- he recently put out a major position paper, something we haven't seen much of yet, and last week he even opened his first campaign office -- has apparently decided instead not to run.

This from the Daily News' Dave Davies:

In a stunning development in the 2007 mayor’s race, former city controller Jonathan Saidel has decided to withdraw from the contest, according to several highly-placed Democratic sources.

A campaign announcement is expected Monday. (ETA: That statement actually came out today; you can find it in this post.)

Saidel found fundraising increasingly difficult as U.S. Rep. Bob Brady continued to consider entering the race. The Democratic sources said it remains unclear whether Brady will get in, but his allies were pressuring donors to avoid giving to Saidel until Brady made his decision.

A source close to Saidel said the former controller realized that since he and Brady share an overlapping political base - union leaders and white Democrats - he would have to work hard just to preserve support he thought he could count on.

“If you have to spend time defending your base, instead of going out and expanding it, it makes things very difficult,” said a source close to Saidel, “and when Jonathan looked at his family responsibilities and financial needs, he realized it would become very hard.”

Saidel campaign spokesman Dan Fee declined comment Sunday.

Saidel was among the top-tier candidates in the contest, with more than $1 million raised, a campaign staff and office in place, and a strong background in municipal issues from his 16 years as controller.

Comments (13)

Dan

Wow. That's some huge news. Now, who's going to go throughout the whole city and peel those "Saidel - Mayor" stickers off of every honor box, sign post and trashcan?

So I guess this means Brady will be in and we'll find out whether it'll be the Democratic party machine or the voters of Philadelphia (or some combination of both) who will choose the next mayor.

My other concern is that Brady has been mostly unresponsive to comment in a lot of the stories about issues that appear in the Daily News. I'll be curious to see what he has to say about a lot of these issues.

It's too bad, I was hoping Saidel would be the ideas guy in this race.

Posted by Dan | December 3, 2006 3:25 PM

Dave

Does this mean Brady's running? I'm confused.

Posted by Dave | December 3, 2006 3:32 PM

Wendy

I just added a post with a comment from Brady. He says he hasn't decided.

Posted by Wendy | December 3, 2006 3:45 PM

citizenthomas

After his completely shameful performance in Tigre Hill's "The Shame Of A City" in which he spoke in black slang dialect to rally voters that the bug placed in Street's office was politically and racially motivated, after investigations into his office as city controller in which he gave his girlfriend a sweethart deal to pay for her mortgage with taxpayer money, after presiding over 16 years as city controller over two corrupt administrations(I don't want to hear the office has no power, he should have quit in protest if he had any principle) he has decided to step out of the mayors race to make way for another awful choice for
Mayor-Bob Brady who gave another pitiful performance
the film "The Shame Of A City". It is amazing that the horrible characters in that movie are now the front runners for mayor 2007. Only in Philadelphia.This town is a joke!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by citizenthomas | December 3, 2006 8:53 PM

draco

This may sound petty, given the larger issues and problems that need to be addressed in the upcoming mayoral campaign, but I am glad that there will now be an end to those ubiquitous "Saidel for Mayor" stickers that are currently defacing public and private property throughout the city. In a city where grafitti and vandalism are a constant battle, we don't need candidates for public office to lead the way in conceiving of new ways to litter the streetscape.

Posted by draco | December 4, 2006 10:29 AM

seand

Brady's not declared he's in but he was already drying up Saidel's contribution sources so I think it strongly indicates he is in.

Brady pulled THE RUG out from under Saidel's campaign - badum - bum tss!

Posted by seand | December 4, 2006 1:51 PM

philly native

"Now, who's going to go throughout the whole city and peel those "Saidel - Mayor" stickers off of every honor box, sign post and trashcan?"

Saidel nor his supporters put those stickers up. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who actually put them up.

Posted by philly native | December 5, 2006 6:03 PM

realitycheck:

Ira Riklis, whose moral compass is so off, having a long term affair and writing off gifts to his girlfriend (as a business loss!!) seems to back candidates with similar character flaws. Jonathan Saidel's arrogance in giving his girlfriend a sweethart deal to pay for her mortgage with taxpayer money may be the reason he quit. These morally corrupt billionaires and politicians run our country. Do we have big problems -- you betcha!

Posted by realitycheck | May 5, 2007 10:28 AM

santiago saidel:

Me llamo Santiago Saidel, de Santa Fe, Argentina, quisiera saber el origen de tu familia, mi dirección de i-mail es santiagosaidel@yahoo.com.ar.Gracias.(spanish

Posted by santiago saidel | December 13, 2008 7:03 AM

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