Boyle, Saidel File to Run for Schwartz Seat

BrendanBoyle
Brendan Boyle

In what’s shaping up to be a highly contested and crowded democratic primary, PA-13 has two newcomers who are vying for the seat. State Rep. Brendan Boyle and Jonathan Saidel have both filed their papers to set up exploratory committees in Rep. Allyson Schwartz’s district.

With their filings, they are the first Philadelphians to run for the seat that many believe Schwartz will vacate in order to run for the Governor’s mansion.

“I’ve heard from working families I represent, labor leaders, and grassroots leaders. I know how much work goes into a race like this and I don’t plan on letting a moment go by without doing what it takes to get the job done,” Boyle said in a Monday press release.

Brendan Boyle is currently the State House Representative for the 170th District. He was elected in 2008 as the first democrat to ever hold that seat. He served as the chairman of the House Democratic Campaign Committee during the 2012 election cycle. His district lies entirely within PA-13, and covers portions of Northeast Philadelphia and Montgomery County.

He boasted the support of several prominent unions, including, the release said, “most of the Philadelphia Building Trades unions, including IBEW Local 98, Sprinklerfitters Local 592, Plumbers Local 690, Steamfitters Local 420, Iron Workers Local 401, and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5.”

Saidel and Schwartz
Saidel (left) and Schwartz at a 2012 Democratic event

Jonathan Saidel is the former City Controller for the city of Philadelphia. He stepped down after three terms to run for mayor in 2007 before dropping out of the race. He also made an attempt to run for the Lieutenant Governor’s seat in 2010 but lost in the Democratic primary. He hasn’t made an announcement yet, but formed an exploratory committee last week.

Bloomberg’s Greg Giroux caught Boyle filing his FEC forms.

Physician Valerie Arkoosh and State Senator Daylin Leach have already filed their papers for Schwartz’s PA-13 seat, and are the two Montgomery County candidates who have announced they are running so far. With Boyle and Saidel joining the field, bringing the grand total of candidates to four.

Although it seems very likely that Schwartz will give up her seat in order to run for Governor, there has been no official announcement of her candidacy.

8 Responses

  1. JOE GALE-HA, he couldn’t even hold a job as a political hack with nancy Beckr and got crushd when he ran for council in Plymouth against Vince Gillen. HAHA thats even funnier than watching the Phillies

  2. I heard PA GOP Leaders approached Montgomery County Young Republican leader, Joe Gale about considering a run for the 13th congressional district. They believe he would attract enough media attention to help boost election results for the GOP slate in the South East.

  3. Hard to see Saidel winning that with all of his baggage. If the Dems nominate someone with big problems or far Left then a moderate Republican could win that seat.

  4. I am anxiously waiting to see how long it will take Boyle to abandon all his previous positions on Abortion, Gay Marriage etc… He likes talking about being an Irish Catholic, Notre Dame grad, etc…
    When will he start talking about receiving letters, Hello Bob Casey, to justify his “EVOLUTION” on the issues. If he does I hope Irish Catholic Organizations he has bragged about belonging to over the years such as the AOH, Irish Society, etc…show him the door.

  5. bobguzzardi-

    Um… Who do you think gerrymandered it?

    Philadelphia is 7 to 1 Dem/Rep and Montco is close to 50/50. So, any congressional district spanning both is going to be heavily tilted Dem. There are about 555 precincts in the district with about 320 of them in Philly and the rest in Montco.

    As for paying for things you spend money on, I think you’ve confused the Dems with the borrow-and-spend Republicans (Iraq War with tax cuts). The Dems are willing to raise taxes to pay for stuff, rather than kick the can down the block for the next generation.

  6. Bob – are you really complaining about a district being gerrymandered for Democrats? Because if so you area out of your bleeding mind. Democrats got significantly more votes for Congress than Republicans did here in PA in 2012 yet LOST a seat. The gerrymandering has been consistently in favor of the rethuglican party.

  7. This district has been gerrymandered to be 2-1 Democrat so it is highly likely it will go Democrat.

    Brendan Boyle is a Democrat I can like. Super nice guy. Decent and common sense kind of guy. Not obnoxious left wing grandstander like Daylin “my kids go to Shipley” Leach. Brendan’s brother Kevin replaced John Perzel, a big step forward for the state.

    Saidel has baggage.

    it is important to remember that Democrats can’t be trusted with money. They don’t seem to realize their utopian free money schemes have to be paid for.

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