Candidates avoid legal challenge

U.S. Rep. Bob Brady isn't the only one facing challenges to his candidacy in Philadelphia politics.

The congressman-turned-mayoral candidate is currently facing an attempt by rivals Dwight Evans and Tom Knox to end his candidacy over problems with his financial-disclosure forms.

But many City Council candidates breathed a sigh of relief when they survived what was essentially the same legal action against them on Friday: City judges threw out most of the lawsuits seeking to remove 16 Council candidates from the ballot.

All 10 district seats, as well as the seven at-large seats are up for grabs this year, starting with the May 15 primary.

At hearings last Friday, lawsuits against Council members Carol Ann Campbell, Frank DiCicco and Marian Tasco were thrown out for lack of evidence, while challenges were withdrawn against Council President Anna Verna and Councilman Dan Savage.

Several other candidacies were also challenged, with many of the challenges likely coming because incumbents were worried that candidates with the same name would accidentally steal votes.

For example, at-large candidate Ben Ramos, a former city and state legislator and member of the Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, shares a name with current Councilman Juan Ramos.

In an interview yesterday, Ben Ramos said he wasn't phased by the unsuccessful attempt to knock him off the ballot.

Calling Philadelphia politics "a contact sport," he said that his legal opponents ran a shoddy effort against him. "They didn't even properly serve the documents they were supposed to serve me," Ramos said.

While admitting that fighting legal challenges "takes time away from the campaign," he said that his campaign was "doing better than I expected," especially in appealing to "the Latino corridor" of the city.

Milton Street, who was also unsuccessfully challenged, shares a name with another candidate as well, though in his case, that candidate is his nephew, Sharif Street.

Milton Street, the erstwhile mayoral candidate, claimed that the challenge had been instigated by his Sharif Street, who is Mayor John Street's son.

Sharif Street spokesman Dale Wilcox denied this allegation.

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