Limits on City Council At-Large Campaigns Now Doubled After One Candidate Ups His Own Ante
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- More money may soon be pouring into the battle for at-large City Council races in the May 19th primary.
Donation limits on all the candidates have now been doubled because of the personal spending of one candidate.
Real estate businessman Allan Domb is one of the 16 candidates for five Democratic at-large nominations for City Council, and he has notified officials that he has spent more than $250,000 of his own money promoting his campaign.
Shane Creamer, executive director of the city's Board of Ethics, says with Domb passing that threshold, limits on donations to other candidates are now doubled.
"When someone uses more than $250,000 of their own resources in a race, we double the limits for everybody, so that other candidates can raise more money to compete with the person who's using their own resources."
This means all the at-large candidates, Democratic and Republican, can now accept up to $5,800 from individuals and up to $23,000 from political action committees.
"So, all at-large candidates can now go back to their donors, who may have maxed out already in contributions this calendar year, and they can get an additional max contribution, essentially," Creamer explains.
This potentially gives the candidates more fundraising and advertising breathing room, with the primary just thirteen days away.
Four incumbents and twelve challengers are vying for five Democratic at-large nominations. Two incumbents and five challengers are competing for five Republican at-large nominations.
The Ethics Board earlier doubled the fundraising limits on the battle for the Democratic nomination for the 2nd District of City Council. In that race, Ori Feibush, a developer, has used his own money challenging incumbent Kenyatta Johnson.
No other races, including for mayor, have seen a doubling of the fundraising limits.