Politics can get pretty nasty around election time, but the race to fill the state House seat vacated earlier this year by John Sabatina Jr. has been anything but that.
Amicable? Yes. Confusing? Probably. Nasty? Not a chance. In fact, in terms of good will, the special election in the 174th Legislative District has been, well, special.
The mutual admiration between nominees Ed Neilson and Tim Dailey was on full blast last Wednesday during a special candidates’ night hosted by the Holme Circle Civic Association.
“We’re friends because nobody ever runs for office to hurt our neighborhood. That’s the key, we work for our neighborhood,” said Neilson, a Democrat who is seeking a return to the House after leaving the former 169th district seat, serving eight months in City Council and losing a reelection bid for that body in May.
Dailey generally concurred, although he cautioned, “We will disagree about certain things.”
A Republican, Dailey has been a teacher at Father Judge High School for the last 20 years and, like Neilson, lost an election in May, when Sabatina defeated him in another special election for Lt. Gov. Mike Stack’s former state Senate seat.
If that all seems a bit confusing, here’s the recap: Neilson and Sabatina previously served together in the House, representing neighboring districts, the 169th and 174th. Due to a statewide remapping of districts, the 169th district was relocated to York County while the 174th was modified to include neighborhoods once represented by Neilson.
Instead of challenging Sabatina for the new 174th district seat in a May 2014 primary, Neilson accepted a party nomination for a special election to fill the at-large Council seat vacated three months earlier by Bill Green, who had resigned to become chair of Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission. Neilson won that special election.
Last fall, Stack, the longtime senator in the 5th district, won the lieutenant governor’s race. He resigned his Senate seat early this year. Democrat ward leaders chose Sabatina Jr. as their nominee for the special election to fill Stack’s old seat. Sabatina Jr. beat the Republican nominee, Dailey, by about 3–1.
The 174th now represents all or parts of Bustleton, Bell’s Corner, Rhawnhurst, Holme Circle, Academy Gardens, Morrell Park and Millbrook.
Party politics aside, the ideological differences between Neilson and Dailey seemed relatively few, based on their dialogue during last week’s meeting. Both presented themselves as populist “neighborhood” guys. Neilson, a Lincoln High graduate, comes from a long line of union electricians. He’s a union member, too, and was Local 98’s political director before first seeking public office in 2012.
Dailey is member of the union of Archdiocesan teachers. The Bustleton native and Rhawnhurst resident graduated from Archbishop Ryan in 1989 and earned a bachelor’s degree at Holy Family College. As one of five children, he learned the value of work at a young age. Even as a full-time teacher, he took a second job with the city’s Recreation Department so that his wife could be a stay-at-home mom, then obtain a nursing degree.
“My story is the same as your story,” he said. “My concerns are the same as yours.”
Neilson is also a big family man. A father of five, one of his sons is enrolled at Judge.
“He’s probably going to be one of Tim’s students. So vote for me, but don’t vote against Tim,” Neilson quipped.
Despite Dailey’s unsuccessful Senate bid earlier this year and his current House candidacy, his campaign palm cards state in enlarged typeface, “Tim Dailey is not a politician.” He told meeting-goers last week that it could benefit them to have a Republican voice in Harrisburg. Republicans are the majority party in the House and Senate.
For Neilson, the Aug. 11 election will be his fifth since April 2012. It’ll be his third special election. Neilson laughs that those in the city’s political community have branded him “Special Ed” because of it. On a serious note, he touted his experience as a state and city lawmaker and his ability to work across party lines and with opposing interests within his own party.
“Anybody who can get Jannie Blackwell and Marian Tasco to vote against tax increases is doing good,” Neilson said of his Council record. “The problem is, they couldn’t get their districts to vote for me (last May).”
At last week’s civic meeting, prompted by residents’ questions, the candidates touched on public school reform, school choice, tax policy, minimum wage, job creation and constituent services.
Neilson said the problem with Philadelphia’s public schools is a disparity in funding. Under Corbett — whom Neilson described as a friend — the state essentially slashed financial support for public schools by forcing local school districts to pay a larger share of charter school reimbursements, Neilson said. As a result, Philadelphia’s public schools spend about $1,900 less per year per student than when Corbett first took office in 2011. By contrast, Bensalem Township’s public school system spends about $1,100 more per student, Neilson said.
He described Gov. Wolf’s proposed increase in the state’s personal income tax as “the real fix.” The proposed rate hike wouldn’t be a “big hit” on wage earners, but would generate enough income to sustain schools, Neilson said.
Dailey said that a personal income tax hike “is one way to get that funding, but it has to be spent wisely,” because it could hurt people’s spending power.
“We have to look at sales tax and the other (proposed) increases that are also going to hurt our pocketbooks and our checkbooks,” Dailey said.
Dailey said he favors public funding for school choice. He thinks that the state should cut back standardized testing requirements so that more effort and money can be invested in practical instruction for students.
“The more people that are out there working, the more taxes are being paid. It starts with education,” he said.
On the minimum wage issue, Neilson is a longtime advocate for wage increases: “It’s not about a minimum wage, it’s a living wage,” he said.
He doesn’t think there are enough good-paying jobs around, so older folks are being forced to take jobs once reserved for young people. As a result, teens and young adults have even fewer options.
Dailey didn’t disagree, but he also didn’t commit to raising the minimum wage.
“You have to have quality workers and pay them a reasonable wage,” he said, adding that wages should depend on the job.
As for constituent services, neither candidate could promise to open an office in Holme Circle. Sabatina Jr.’s former office at 16 Old Ashton Road is open on a part-time schedule and will probably remain that way until the new representative takes office. Only then can new offices be approved. ••
