Dwight Evans has called on council to reject the Kenney bill as well. But he has a idea to consider instead:
He thinks as a rich candidate pours more and more of his or her own money into the campaign, the limits on campaign donations should increase -- but not disappear.
From his statement:
“I was disappointed to learn that Councilman Jim Kenney has put forth a proposal to eliminate caps on political donations to candidates running for office in Philadelphia,” Evans wrote in the letter to Council. “Those who support such a proposal are signaling their support of the pay-to-play, machine-driven politics that reward the few at the expense of the many
And he explains his idea: "for example, if a candidate were to spend in excess of $2 million of personal resources in a campaign, then the limits on individual contributions should increase by a factor of four."
"Coupled with requirements for 24-hour disclosure of any donation over $1,000, this would move toward leveling the playing field while maintaining public scrutiny and preventing a return to the “Wild-West” days of old," Evans said.
One important thing to remember: Nutter and Evans both collected the money they have now from a large base. Evans from 1,300 donors and Nutter from 1,400 donors.