Ballot Talks: A look at Philadelphia’s campaign finance restrictions

Guests: Dan Fee, David Thornburgh, Terry Gillen

With much back and forth surrounding campaign finance on the national stage, we take a look at the Philadelphia City Code and its limits on contributions to political candidates. One section of this code, written by then-Councilman Michael Nutter in 2005, has come under scrutiny as the declared mayoral candidates try to raise funds. Section 17-1405 is an attempt at limiting contributions from law firms and corporations, two major sources of money for political campaigns, but detractors claim that the rule weakens democracy rather than strengthening it. We’re joined this hour by democratic political consultant DAN FEE of the Echo Group who has provided consultation for former-Mayor Ed Rendell, former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery and Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams. We’ll also be joined by DAVID THORNBURGH, CEO of the watchdog group Committee of 70 and the executive director of the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania. We’ll also hear from TERRY GILLEN, who dropped out of this year’s mayoral race citing the inability to raise adequate funds.