Uphill battle for GOP candidate for open Philly City Council seat

Listen
 City Council candidate Matthew Wolfe (Image courtesy of Wolfe)

City Council candidate Matthew Wolfe (Image courtesy of Wolfe)

City Council candidate Matthew Wolfe, a Republican from West Philly, is throwing his hat in the race for an open Council At Large seat.

Philadelphia’s Democratic ward leaders have chosen a candidate to fill an open City Council seat: state Representative Ed Neilson. The former political director for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 hails from the Northeast.

Today a Republican from West Philly is throwing his hat in the council race.

City Council candidate Matthew Wolfe knows the odds and the Democratic machine are against him, still he’s running for the Council At Large seat because he believes Philadelphia can be better.

  • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

“Our taxes are too high, that’s why we’ve chased businesses out of the city,” Wolfe said. “Our tax structure is irrational — we tax things that people can lift up and take out of the city: we tax jobs and we tax businesses. And our spending priorities are screwed up. We need to focus on core municipal responsibilities.”

Wolfe said that includes spending more money on public safety, public education, sanitation, and maintaining our transportation infrastructure.

He grew up in Elkins Park, attended the University of Pennsylvania as well as Villanova Law School, and now lives in West Philly. He said the city has a lot going for it.

“We have a Seaport, we’re basically halfway between Washington and New York, you know has tremendous advantages, yet because of policies that City Council has enacted, we have chased businesses and taxpayers out of the city. And we need to reverse that.”

The Council At Large seat Wolfe is running for was vacated when Bill Green took a job running the School Reform Commission.

The Special Election will take place May 20th.

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