On the 10th anniversary of her swearing-in as Philadelphia district attorney, incumbent Lynne Abraham held off Alex Talmadge Jr.'s bid for the office Tuesday night.
In what was billed as the toughest race of her career, Abraham amassed 59 percent of the vote to become the Democratic nominee for November's general election. She will face-off against Republican Joseph Bongiovanni III and possibly Leon Williams, who may run as an independent candidate.
With 75 percent of the votes in, Abraham accepted Talmadge's concession.
"It is a great victory for crime victims," Abraham said at the Warwick Hotel, thanking her "partner and friend" Mayor John Street, who supported her. "I dedicate this victory to all law-abiding citizens of Philadelphia."
A few blocks away at his election night headquarters at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Talmadge thanked nearly 100 supporters for their dedication and maintained that in raising issues such as the death penalty and race, they had started a movement.
"Today we rest -- just today -- but the fight is not over," Talmadge said with his mother by his side. "This is a bitter pill, but you know what? We tried."
His speech was punctuated by deafening cries from the crowd of "Alex for mayor."
Throughout the campaign, Talmadge had dogged Abraham on the issue of race, citing her handling of a recent fight at George Washington High School where only black students were charged, and her about-face attack on Frederica Massiah-Jackson's bid to become the first black woman on the federal district court in Philadelphia in 199'.
But as she addressed her well-wishers, Abraham maintained that she was committed to racial equality.
"While I am not perfect, I am fully and deeply committed to the cause of civil rights and social justice," the district attorney said.
Abraham pulled support from across the city for the win, while Talmadge focused on heavily African-American parts of the city like North and West Philadelphia. Even so, Abraham's share of the African-American vote was close to 20 percent, while Talmadge predicted she would only receive 5 percent.
"I think it really showed Lynne Abraham's quiet strength that she had in all communities across the city -- including the African-American community -- which I think is a reflection of the kind of district attorney she's been," said Joe Grace, Abraham's campaign manager.
Talmadge entered the campaign late in the game after being cajoled by individuals angry at what they perceived to be racist treatment by the District Attorney's Office.
Right from the start, Talmadge made the race issue his own, broadcasting radio ads comparing Abraham to Eugene "Bull" Connor, the infamous racist sheriff of Birmingham, Ala., in the 1960s.
Although many had criticized the ads as low-ball tactics by the Talmadge campaign, mild-mannered Talmadge maintained on primary election day that such steps were necessary.
"When you come out against an incumbent, your first punch has to be a good one, and our first punch was a good one," Talmadge said. "I brought out the things on her record that many people did not know about, but never did she say that they were not true."
Abraham had said that Talmadge was unqualified to lead the 62' prosecutors that make up the District Attorney's Office, since he has never tried a homicide case. Talmadge served as city commissioner before resigning to run for for district attorney.
With the endorsement of the city's Democratic party -- including Street, former Mayor Ed Rendell and Congressman Bob Brady -- Abraham was able to amass a substantial war chest, bringing in $54','29, compared to Talmadge's purse of $66,170.
This meant Talmadge was unable to broadcast two television commercials that he had unveiled earlier this month.
With such hindrances, Street maintained that Abraham's victory was never in doubt.
"I never really thought that Alex Talmadge would win," the mayor said.
Talmadge's campaign filed an emergency petition late in the afternoon on election day to keep the polls open an extra hour -- until 9 p.m. -- due to problems reported with the voting machines in eight of the city's voting wards. Common Pleas Court Judge Sheila Woods Skipper denied the action.
Frederick Voigt, executive director of the non-partisan political watchdog group Committee of Seventy, said he thought the problems were not out of the ordinary.
