Vincent's First

Fumo prepares for a fight in the First District.

by Mary F. Patel

The Democratic primary in the First Senatorial District is expected to be quite combative. In one corner sits incumbent state Sen. Vince Fumo, who has served in the district since 1978, when former state Sen. Buddy Cianfrani handpicked him as a successor after being forced into an upstate penal vacation. Though a politically important powerhouse in Harrisburg, Fumo was indicted by the feds on Feb. 6 on 141 counts of conspiracy, fraud, obstruction of justice and filing false tax returns in connection with a nonprofit neighborhood association he founded called Citizens Alliance.

Fumo asked the court for new counsel after he parted ways with longtime friend/attorney Richard Sprague. Ironically, they split after Fumo fought against prosecutors to keep Sprague, whom the feds sought to remove, citing a conflict since he represented Citizens Alliance. Later, Fumo retained a new lawyer, Dennis Cogan, who is widely respected in local legal circles, and the court allowed an extension of the case. Trial is now scheduled to start next September to allow Cogan more time to prepare. This time frame bodes well for Fumo since he can now be available to run in the 2008 Democratic primary.

Fumo may now have three Democratic opponents. Former Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority CEO Joe Vignola is announcing his run next month. Sources say Vignola has a lot of friends in the district, having served as the First District councilman and city controller. He is now the senior vice president and manager of public finance at Janney Montgomery Scott, a prestigious brokerage and financial management firm. Word is that Vignola is heavily funded and plans to retain a high-profile media consultant for his campaign.

Grassroots activist Anne Dicker is also running; in fact, she's already put a couple of ads out poking at Fumo's legal entanglements. Her claim to fame is government reform, and she belongs to multiple neighborhood organizations, most notably Philly for Change. Another female grassroots activist could soon enter the picture, as Sheila Ballen is said to be planning a run. Ballen, the state Department of Education's spokeswoman, ran unsuccessfully in 2004 against then-state Rep. Marie Lederer. Ballen and Dicker may wash each other out, and possibly draw from the same money pool of supporters.

The Capitol Chill

What's brewing in the wind? The political rumor mill is churning out a story that has Donna Cooper, Gov. Ed Rendell's secretary of planning and policy, wanting to relocate to Philly for a job in the Michael Nutter administration. But when Cooper supposedly met with Nutter political director Terry Gillen, it did not go well. Though nobody's talking publicly —they won't even confirm the meeting occurred — it seems that Cooper apparently will not be heading east on the Turnpike.

Gillen confirmed that the two met prior to Nutter's general-election victory, but that Cooper didn't ask for a job. When reached for comment, Cooper confirmed that she had discussions with somebody from the Nutter camp — she said the name was irrelevant, that it wasn't Gillen with whom she is "friends" — but that she planned on staying on Rendell's team. Cooper is held in high regard by Rendell; she is a member of his executive staff, advising him on city policy. Prior to her current position, Cooper was executive director of Good Schools PA, and has been close to Rendell since her days as his deputy mayor for policy and planning.

Gillen, a Democratic leader of the 30th ward, served a brief stint as then-Mayor Rendell's deputy commerce director in 1992. She then became senior vice president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., where she managed the Office of Defense Conversion. Gillen was the director of policy for the state Department of Community and Economic Development in Rendell's first year as governor before serving as the chief executive officer of the Collegiate Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development. She ran unsuccessfully against state Rep. Babette Josephs in 2004 in a three-way primary with Andrew Hohns and latched on early with Nutter when U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah was the front-runner. Meanwhile, word is that Gillen may be tapped to serve as Nutter's policy director, although it is unlikely that Nutter will make any more key announcements until he has a managing director in place.

This and That

In presidential politics, Democratic candidate Barack Obama's campaign is sending around an e-mail blast seeking volunteers to collect signatures on petitions.Obama needs more than 2,000 signatures of registered state voters to appear on the ballot. (The link in the e-mail, my.barackobama.com/PAPetitionDriveCD1, shows various locations where signatures can be collected.)

The campaign is also collecting signatures for anyone who wants to be a delegate for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Obama needs 250 signatures for each congressional district in the state.

Obama is now riding high from the latest Iowa poll from The Des Moines Register. It shows Obama pulling ahead of Democratic contender Hillary Clinton and has a majority of voters in Iowa saying that Clinton is running a negative campaign.

It was only a matter of time before the two Democratic front-runners started to sling the mud anyway. While Obama is criticizing Clinton for going negative, he has already gone that route.

Meanwhile, Clinton will be in town with her Bubba, former President Bill Clinton, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, at the Electric Factory. The cost of seeing them do their thing: a contribution of $100, $250 and $500.

Speaking of money, it would appear that no other 2008 Democratic House candidate has more fund-raisers lined up than Larry Farnese. An attorney at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney and an 8th Ward resident, he is running for the second time against state Rep. Babette Josephs in next year's primary. There are two fund-raisers planned for him this month. First up is a gay-themed fund-raiser at Woody's advertised as a LGBT Friends event with high-end ticket prices of $500, $250 and $100. At least the drinks are free. And Councilman Frank DiCicco has lent his name to another Farnese soiree on Dec. 27 at Bridget Foy's where the price of admission is $1000, $250 or $100.

(rcpatel@aol.com)