Eighth District candidates will be out looking for you this weekend

Streets, supermarkets and train stations.

Eighth District voters will likely see at least one of the seven candidates in that Council race at one of those locations this weekend. With Tuesday’s Municipal Primary quickly approaching, each hopeful will be moving nonstop to hammer home their message and separate themselves from a crowded field.

“Busy, busy, busy,” said Tyner when asked about her upcoming campaign schedule.

Tyner, a first-time candidate, said her Saturday and Sunday will be packed with events, including a fundraiser and a walk-around with committee people.

Sunday morning she’ll take a brief break from the campaign trail to graduate from LaSalle University. But she’s not planning on letting that ceremony distract her for long.

“Afterwards, I’ll be out in the street campaigning with my cap and gown on,” she said.

Tyner said she plans on simply stressing to voters that they take a look at her record in the community and as a City Council staffer. “I’ll be asking them to let my work speak for me.”

Cindy Bass, a staffer for Democratic Congressman Chaka Fattah, said she’ll have a similar message to voters as she crams in wall-to-wall campaign time this weekend.

“I really want voters to take note of some of the things I’ve done and of the vision that I have for the district,” said Bass, who’s making her second Council bid.

Bass didn’t offer a lot of specifics about her Saturday and Sunday, but said she plans on talking to as many voters as possible and attending as many events as possible.

“Any place in the Eighth District where there is one or more gathered, we will be there,” she said.

“We’re going to work pretty much round the clock,” said Bass. She said the energy she gets from positive voter feedback keeps her awake and moving.

Newcomer William Durham, however, has a slightly more specific goal for the weekend and the Monday before Election Day.

Durham, La Salle University’s community liaison, said it’s his goal to reach 5,000 voters. He’s currently talked to just north of 4700.

“We thought it was achievable,” said Durham of the four-digit figure. “Doing about a 100 doors a day or 75 doors a day that we knew we could advertise and market [to].”

As he wraps up his campaign, he says he’ll continue to drive home the need to elect an independent voice to represent the Eighth.

“I’ve been asking people to really look at who is supporting each candidate,” he said. “I believe some candidates, their supporters are the same individuals who have gotten us to the point where we’re at,” he said.

Fellow candidates Greg Paulmier and Howard Treatman will also look to emphasize their lack of support from elected officials and unions.

Paulmier will be spreading that message at train stops and buses throughout the Eighth District. He said he’s visited nearly all of the 20 neighborhood stations along SEPTA’s Chestnut Hill West and Chestnut Hill East lines.

“The idea is that people who are out and about are probably more likely to vote than people that aren’t,” said Paulmier, now deep into his fourth Council campaign.

The district’s business corridors will also be a major focus, he said. Paulmier said he’ll continue to push that he is a grassroots candidate ready to reform the district.

“What I am communicating to people is the importance that we not just oil the machine, but that we in fact elect someone who’s been trying to fix the machine for a long time,” he said.

Treatman said he will also discuss his independence and integrity, but also plans to focus on his approach to creating jobs and where his opponents stand on D.R.O.P., the city’s controversial Deferred Retirement Option Plan.

The first-time candidate from Germantown doesn’t plan on putting his campaign into outright overdrive, but will be at a number of events this weekend. One will be a Northwest Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network Flea Market & Fair. Another will be an East Mount Airy Neighbors fundraiser.

“Each day builds on the one before,” said Treatman. “At this point, you better have had a strategy and have a message out there already.”

Eighth District candidates Andrew Lofton and Robin Tasco did not return calls for an interview.

The Democratic Primary is May 17. The winner of that election will for all intents and purposes be the Eighth’s next Councilperson.

There are no Republicans in this race, making November’s General Election ballot largely a formality.