Milton Street hopes ‘don’t counts’ do vote

The time has come for candidates to file for the primary election in Philadelphia. And the brother of former Mayor John Street said Tuesday he’s a serious candidate for the Democratic nomination.

Milton Street filed his petitions and financial statement about two hours before the deadline. He said he took extra care on listing his finances so he wouldn’t be thrown out of the contest.

“We’ve checked enough to know that we have a thousand good signatures,” he said. “And this here is my financial interest statement. I’ve gone back to 1988 and I’ve put everything in there that I could find.”

Street said he is the champion of those who usually don’t vote; he calls them the “don’t counts.”

  • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

“The don’t counts are the ex-offenders, the people down in Kensington, where they say they don’t count,” he said. “They have mental health issues, they are in rehabs, and poor people generally branded as don’t counts.”

Street said he plans to launch a major registration drive. He wants to sign up 50,000 to 60,000 new voters to mount a successful campaign against Mayor Michael Nutter.

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal