John Staggs profile

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

While most of the focus in the mayoral race has been on Democrat Michael Nutter and Republican Al Taubenberger, there is a third candidate — John Staggs, of the Socialist Workers Party.
Staggs, a 60-year-old from Germantown, is running to empower working people.
"We’re the vast majority in Philadelphia," he said. "The other candidates, all they’re talking about is business."
Staggs is a packinghouse worker at an upper Bucks County beef slaughterhouse. He’s been active in union organizing drives and against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and potential conflicts with Iran, Syria and North Korea.
In the campaign, major media outlets and community forum organizers have largely ignored him, though he was interviewed for a five-minute spot on Comcast Newsmakers.
The minor-party hopeful contends that Republicans have been the party of big business for decades and insists that Democrats should not be labeled as a party of working people.
"All you have to do is look at where the money comes from," he said, noting that big corporations spread their campaign contributions fairly equally between the two major parties.
As mayor, Staggs would demand that the federal government stop funding the war in Iraq and use the savings to help Philadelphia and other big cities.
"We’ve spent six-hundred billion dollars in this war, but when we try to get money for the city, there’s no money," he said.
In office, Staggs would oppose any police raids of workplaces to identify people he calls "undocumented immigrants."
"All working people should have the right to work and not be terrorized," he said.
Staggs wants a massive federally funded public works program to put millions of people to work at union scale wages. He also wants unemployment benefits paid at union rates for the duration of joblessness.
On other issues, he favors abolishing the death penalty, expanding affirmative action, ending restrictions on abortions, extending the rights of gays and providing government-guaranteed lifetime medical insurance for everyone. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com