Williams would be first African-American D.A.
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
By: Elizabeth Fiedler
efiedler@whyy.org
The likelihood that Philadelphia will have its first African American District Attorney increased when Seth Williams won the Democratic primary on Tuesday.
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Just after Seth Williams accepted the Democratic nomination, Williams supporters voiced their excitement at the mic.
Supporters: We made history again!… The first African American District Attorney!… Seth Williams everybody!… In the entire state of Pennsylvania, the first African American District Attorney!…
Williams still has to face Republican Michael Untermeyer in the general election.
The District Attorney is a pretty low-profile position, points out Richardson Dilworth, the Director of the Center for Public Policy at Drexel University.
Dilworth: I think the race of a single elected official can be significant if its an especially high profile office – like President of the United States for instance, or if it's a symbolic office. And I don't really think that District Attorney qualifies on either of those two counts.
Dilworth says he doesn't think race played much of a factor in the D.A. contest.