Posted on 11/14/2005 8:46:54 PM PST by Mo1
Insurance executive Tom Knox has made a down payment on a possible candidacy for Philadelphia mayor, transferring $5 million to his new political committee in what amounts to the largest single campaign donation in city history.
The Oct. 26 payment from his personal fortune comes as Knox has taken other recent steps toward running for mayor in 2007. His campaign staff is moving into a Center City headquarters this week, a Web site is ready to launch, and aides are planning a series of "listening sessions" with neighborhood leaders.
In jump-starting his campaign with cash, Knox joins a small group of rich candidates - such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New Jersey Gov.-elect Jon S. Corzine - who can eschew the usual political game of soliciting money from interests who want something from government.
"I wanted to demonstrate to people that I can't be bought, and that I'm serious about doing this," said Knox, 63, the chief executive officer of insurer UnitedHealthcare.
Joe Trippi, Knox's chief strategist, said that sends an attractive message in a city weary of pay-to-play scandals that have produced 23 federal corruption convictions in the last two years.
"What I really want to do, I want to get the citizens of Philadelphia to join with me in taking the 'For Sale' sign down off City Hall," Knox said, adding that he wants residents to get more value for the nation's second-highest municipal tax burden.
Knox also said he hoped to raise another $5 million from people who share his vision but would spend more of his own money, if needed.
Unlike several other major rivals, Knox is not well-known outside elite circles and does not have a natural base or political organization. Some say that Knox's money helps but that the advantage will decrease with time because of the law of diminishing returns.
"Without his money, he's nowhere," U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, who is also the city Democratic chairman, said in a recent interview. "I've never seen a mayor's race that lacked for money - and there's only so many TV buys you can make, only so much postage you can buy, only so many pieces of literature you can send out."
But the $5 million donation - equal to 42 percent of what Mayor Street collected over three years from hundreds of contributors for his 2003 reelection - also raises the financial stakes for others exploring the race.
"It's got to register with the other candidates how much it's going to take to mount a serious campaign," said Trippi, who ran Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign.
Knox grew up in a housing project in East Falls, got into the insurance business, and made millions turning around a series of distressed businesses. He served as deputy mayor for management and productivity in then-Mayor Ed Rendell's administration.
While several potential mayoral candidates have been raising cash, Knox's electronic transfer puts him far ahead.
One likely competitor in the Democratic primary, City Councilman Michael A. Nutter, raised $342,751 from the beginning of 2004 through August, according to campaign reports filed late last month.
Less information is known about City Controller Jonathan Saidel and State Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Phila.) because they are not required to report what they have raised and spent until Jan. 31. The last available reports show Saidel having banked $380,000 as of the end of 2004, and Evans with $228,000 on hand.
A recent campaign-finance report shows U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), who is running for reelection next year to Congress, with $281,533 in the bank - most of it raised between July 1 and Sept. 30.
Veterans of city and state politics said they could not recall any campaign contribution as big as Knox's, either by a candidate or a generous supporter.
"Wow," said Philadelphia lawyer Alan Kessler, a leading Democratic fund-raiser. "This establishes... a record. It gives him the jump on being a serious candidate."
Philadelphia has not witnessed the phenomenon of a largely self-financed candidate emerging from the business world to become mayor, such as Bloomberg or former mayor Richard Riordan of Los Angeles, said historian Randall Miller of St. Joseph's University.
Businessman Sam Katz was the Republican nominee for mayor in 1999 and 2003, but he raised the bulk of his war chest from others. Katz also had a long history of political activism, serving on the Philadelphia school board and running for lieutenant governor, for instance.
Knox "could be the quintessential outsider who's enough of an insider to be able to say, 'I know how things work, but I'm not part of the problem,' " Miller said. Money "can make you a player when everything else would say, 'No way.' "
Later this week, Knox's campaign plans to activate a Web site, www.knoxforphilly.com, and his staff will open a headquarters on the 32d floor of 1717 Arch St. He has hired a prominent Democratic pollster, Paul Maslin, and has already conducted a detailed city poll.
Knox, who called the survey results "encouraging," said he would not be ready to formally announce he is running at least until early next year, after the first round of a series of neighborhood-issues round tables.
"I'm going into every neighborhood asking people what they think, what their problems are," he said.
Check out who is getting involved with the mayoral race
Joe Trippi..now that's a winner. Doesn't matter. I'm going to have a Dem mayor no matter who runs..sigh
I know all I need to know about Knox. He's a Democrat, therefore he's a liar and a scumbag.
Philadelphia is hopeless.
At least we can make it more costly...lol
I wonder if this will cause the spotlight to be shone on abuses in the healthcare insurance industry.
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