Alan Butkovitz Isn’t Running For Mayor (Again)

This will shock absolutely no one, but we feel the need to share it with you anyway: Philadelphia City Controller Alan Butkovitz tells us he has decided not to run for mayor.

This is, um, the second time in recent months he’s decided not to run in the Democratic primary on May 19th.

Back in November, Butkovitz announced that he was not going to join the race. When former city solicitor Ken Trujillo dropped out of the race two weeks ago, however, Butkovitz apparently began rethinking his decision, telling WHYY’s Dave Davies, “There’s a large number of people, contributors, activists, calling up and asking me to get into the race. We’re going to have to put a barometer into the water here and figure out what the lay of the land is.”

So why has he decided to ultimately not do it now? Probably because a man named Jim Kenney, who appeals to many of the same progressive voters and labor donors, has decided to run, right?

“No,” said Butkovitz. “We evaluated this as scientifically as we could in November. Basically, everything that has happened since then validates the way we looked at it. So the decision remains the same.”

When asked if he would be endorsing anyone for mayor, Butkovitz said, “I don’t have a response to that right now and I don’t have a timetable to tell you about.”

According to campaign finance reports filed Monday, Butkovitz had $68,500 on hand at the end of 2014.