Is John Street considering a council run?

An unexpected independent candidate could pop up for the fall race for City Council at Large.

John Street changed his registration to non-partisan, keeping–in his words–a variety of options open.  According to the Daily News blog Clout, one option could be a possible run for Philadelphia City Council at Large.

Political Consultant Larry Ceisler says Street would be the first viable independent to run for the office in recent city history.

“One could make a credible argument that he could finish probably sixth in the fall but finishing sixth or seventh would give him a seat on City Council,” said Ceisler.

The city charter mandates the majority party only have five of the seven at large positions and Ceisler says Street could squeeze out a Republican.

“You have some very strong republican candidates not that they could finish in the top five.  Frank Rizzo has always done well with Democratic voters, you have Malcolm Lazin who is the first openly gay candidate running,” he said.

The minority set-aside has historically meant that Republicans have made it onto council with as little as half the votes of their Democratic counterparts.