Alan Butkovitz Won’t Run for Mayor
Alan Butkovitz. Photo: Cbrblessing
The Daily News reports that Alan Butkovitz, the city controller, will not be running for mayor. Butkovitz hadn’t announced a campaign, but he’d long been thought a likely candidate. Indeed, he’d been considered a leading candidate. Butkovitz had started to assemble a campaign staff, even hiring a former consultant to Joe Biden in April in anticipation of the expected run.
.@AlanButkovitz passes on running for mayor in 2015 http://t.co/uJliwZuJhU (via @ChrisBrennanDN) pic.twitter.com/nVR2nGOgGP
— Philly Daily News (@PhillyDailyNews) November 17, 2014
Butkovitz has said for months that he would not run for mayor if Clarke sought that office.
Butkovitz said he met with Clarke last week but does not know if he will run for mayor.
“There’s no question there’s a lot of wait-and-see about what the field is going to look like,” Butkovitz said. “My view of the time-line [for a campaign] is it really has to be under way by November of the proceeding year.”
It’s hard not to conclude that a Darrell Clarke mayoral run is now imminent. Clarke will be a formidable candidate, if he does run. Butkovitz bowing out is, in all likelihood, one early indicator of Clarke’s strength.
Ken Trujillo and Terry Gillen have already announced their candidacies for mayor. State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams and former D.A. Lynne Abraham will announce their candidacies on Wednesday. Former Council Member Frank Rizzo Jr. and Doug Oliver, a former aide to Mayor Nutter, are also reportedly considering the race.
