Chaka Fattah has officially put himself on next year's mayoral ballot, and he'll likely have more company there soon.
Fattah, the U.S. representative who currently serves Penn's district, joined former City Councilman Michael Nutter on Saturday as the only two official candidates currently in the race.
But wealthy businessman Tom Knox plans to announce his candidacy Nov. 30, spokesman David Dunphy said. State Rep. Dwight Evans has said he will likely declare next month, and former City Controller Jonathan Saidel looks to follow suit in January.
And while local union head John Dougherty has not said he will definitely declare his candidacy, spokesman Frank Keel said Dougherty "remains extremely interested" in the position.
Dougherty will make a decision by the end of January after consulting with his family and possible supporters, Keel added.
If U.S. Rep. Bob Brady - who has also been mentioned as a possible candidate - declares his candidacy as well, the six local leaders will be engaged in the most highly contested mayoral race in a decade.
All of the six would run as Democrats in the May primary, with the victor virtually guaranteed to win in November.
Fattah's announcement came only 11 days after he won re-election for Pennsylvania's 2nd district, and many see the powerful representative as the early favorite, thanks to his name recognition.
And while city campaign-finance laws limit candidates to donations of $2,500 per year from individuals and $10,000 from businesses and political-action committees, the campaign-reform laws may actually end up helping Fattah, said Larry Ceisler of political consulting firm Ceisler Jubelirer LLC.
"If people aren't going to be able to raise as much money, a person who already has built-in name recognition is going to have an advantage in a race like this," Ceisler said.
Fattah will also likely be endorsed by current mayor and close ally John Street, though Ceisler added the unpopular mayor's backing may do more harm than good.
"If I were running a campaign, I wouldn't want Mayor Street endorsing my candidate," Ceisler said. "Street's favorability numbers aren't much higher than George Bush's in the city right now. . But at the end of the day, endorsements are not what gets a person elected."
Fattah may also be hurt by his educational background. Though he received a master's degree from Penn's Fels School of Government, the six-term representative was a high-school dropout who never received an undergraduate college degree.
Nutter, who is Fattah's lone opponent thus far, declared his candidacy in July after resigning from his City Council position.
He said that he is "looking forward to" the race, and that he would focus on city crime, improving education, cleaning up government corruption and working to create jobs if elected.
"The experience that I bring to this election is that I've been so broad-based and gained experience in a number of areas," Nutter said. "It's what this city needs."
He added that he hopes to continue campaigning over the next six months in an effort to erase any advantage in name recognition Fattah might have.
"Name recognition is certainly important, but . this is not a contest for who's going to be high-school class president," Nutter said. "Ultimately, the people of Philadelphia will choose who is most qualified."
