At Famous 4th Street Deli Today, Huge Sammiches, Small Crowd

Senatorial candidate Kathleen McGinty (left) and South Jersey Democratic Party power broker George Norcross (middle, right) were among those in the crowd at the Famous 4th Street Deli.

Few political traditions in Philadelphia are quite as cherished as the Election Day gathering at Famous 4th Street Deli. (Yeah, we know you’re going to make a joke here about corruption being the most cherished tradition here. Go for it.)

There’s gossiping and backslapping and repeated attempts from political types in suits to look graceful as they shove sandwiches the size of car batteries into their mouths. But the scene today was oddly quiet. Former District Attorney Lynne Abraham made an appearance, as did City Councilman Derek Green.

George Norcross, the South Jersey Democratic power broker, was hunkered down at a table with former Daily News city editor Gar Joseph and political guru Neil Oxman, among a handful of others. There was no sign of state attorney general candidate Stephen Zappala, despite a plethora of Zappala campaign fliers outside.

The only candidate of note who did show up was Katie McGinty, one of four Democrats vying to be the nominee who will go up against Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey in the fall. McGinty was upbeat as she worked the room in an eye-catching lime green outfit. “Most of the places we’ve been to, they tell me the turnout looks really good from their perspective,” she said. “This is an unscientific survey, but everybody’s telling me that they voted for me.”

McGinty tried to tie Toomey to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump — even though Toomey said he voted for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the Pennsylvania primary. He also skipped out on a Trump fundraiser that benefitted the Pennsylvania Republican Party.

“I keep waiting for Pat Toomey to turn back the money that Donald Trump raised for him, and to denounce the hateful and divisive speech we’ve heard from Donald Trump,” McGinty said. “Pat Toomey has continuously refused to distance himself from Donald Trump.”

Oxman said he thought either McGinty or her top Democratic rival,  Joe Sestak, will top Toomey in the general election. “Toomey is toast,” he said.

Read Holly Otterbein’s report from Relish.

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