It's Our City is a project that uses TV, Radio and Web
to promote civic engagement in the Philadelphia region.What happened to Brett the "Bulldog"?
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 at 11:00 pm - by Alan Tu. Filed under: Politics.
Brett Mandel's campaign mascot
The fact that an incumbent won his party’s nomination should be no surprise to anyone. But I have to admit that I thought Brett Mandel ran an energetic campaign one would have thought would have translated into more votes for him. So, What happened? Did Brett go too far in his claim that City Controller Alan Butkovitz wasn’t doing enough audits? Was it the letter from Jonathan Saidel (Brett’s former boss) saying Mandel was wrong in the audit controversy? Also, it appears from the returns that candidates John Braxton did quite well considering his lower name recognition. He was the candidate who attacked the incumbent for not being “morally right.” Braxton accused Butkovitz of allowing politics to influence what departments did and did not get audited. And finally, I don’t mean to suggest that Butkovitz didn’t run a good campaign. He was very aggressive in his counter attacks to Mandel and he does appear to love his job. So go ahead be a pundit.
City Controller Alan Butkovitz appears energized from his Primary win
Brett "The Bulldog" Mandel (center) at his campaign election night headquarters
Election Category: CONTROLLER-D
90.35 % 1516/1678 Precincts Completed.
Overall winner(s) Denoted by Winner vs Runner(s) up
| Candidate Name | Party | Votes | % Of Total Votes |
| BRAXTON, JOHN L | DEMOCRATIC | 25593 | 30.35 % |
| BUTKOVITZ, ALAN L | DEMOCRATIC | 35145 | 41.68 % |
| MANDEL, BRETT | DEMOCRATIC | 23548 | 27.92 % |
| Write In, | 41 | 0.05 % |
Election Category: CONTROLLER-R
90.35 % 1516/1678 Precincts Completed.
Overall winner(s) Denoted by Winner vs Runner(s) up
| Candidate Name | Party | Votes | % Of Total Votes |
| SCHMIDT, AL | REPUBLICAN | 8391 | 99.85 % |
| Write In, | 13 | 0.15 % |
Please feel free to leave us your thoughts on the City Controller’s primary race.
May 20th, 2009 at 5:20 am
If at 90% completion Braxton will surely be dominating.
May 20th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Majority did vote against Butkovitz, so runoff elections in the future would prevent winners with no clear majority.
May 20th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I guess the bulldog was really the underdog. I would say Mandel had a better organization, more attractive graphic design, a better temperament, and overall, a better message, but none of this was a match for old ties and back-scratching. Butkovitz had the full backing of the Democratic/union establishment. Butkovitz and Braxton have also been at it for a while, benefiting from name-recognition, probably the most valuable asset in a small-time race that generates little interest.
I’d say Mandel’s performance was disappointing, but still not bad for a relative newcomer in this city. I’d love to see more candidates taking on the old Philly guard, but you don’t make a lot of friends that way. I hope this is not the last we hear of Mr. Mandel.