Michael Swayze's Community Resources

Author: Michael Swayze

  • The 2020 Candidate Pledge

    The following is a re-post of an email recently sent by the Indivisible Team, initially introduced in April. Since then 29,000 grassroots activists have signed on to the pledge. It reads as follows:

    We must defeat Donald Trump. The first step is a primary contest that produces a strong Democratic nominee. The second step is winning the general election. We will not accept anything less. To ensure this outcome, I pledge to:

    Make the primary constructive. I’ll respect the other candidates and make the primary election about inspiring voters with my vision for the future.

    Rally behind the winner. I’ll support the ultimate Democratic nominee, whomever it is — period. No Monday morning quarterbacking. No third-party threats. Immediately after there’s a nominee, I’ll endorse.

    Do the work to beat Trump. I will do everything in my power to make the Democratic Nominee the next President of the United States. As soon as there is a nominee, I will put myself at the disposal of the campaign.

    Take the pledge. Share it on social media.

  • 22nd Ward Open Caucus Makes Endorsements For May 21 Democratic Primary Election

    The following is a press release issued today by a group that I strongly support in an effort to bring democratic practices to the Democratic Party in Philadelphia.

    A group of Democratic committeepeople in Philadelphia’s 22nd Ward met on Thursday May 9th for the purpose of endorsing candidates who will be on the May 21 Democratic primary election ballot. The political association, known as the 22nd Ward Open Caucus, was created earlier this year to promote a more open, accessible, and democratic ward system; to share knowledge among committeepeople; and to increase voter participation.

    The caucus issued a written request to all candidates appearing on the ballot asking them to provide brief questionnaire responses and appear at the recent candidates meet and greet at the New Covenant Church in Mt. Airy, and 35 candidates responded. “This response lends legitimacy to our caucus and our efforts to give voice to the elected committeepeople in the 22nd Ward and the people they represent” said acting caucus coordinator, Michael Swayze. “The active members of our caucus represent the divisions of our Ward with a high number of registered voters and some of the highest turnouts of all divisions in the City of Philadelphia. Many of us will canvas our divisions for these endorsed candidates.”

    The Open Caucus voted to endorse the following slate:
    Mayor: Jim Kenney
    Council-at-Large: Erika Almirón, Justin DiBerardinis, Derek Green, Helen Gym
    City Commissioner: Jen Devor, Kahlil Williams
    Court of Common Pleas: Anthony Kyriakakis, Tiffany Palmer
    The candidates were approved with a 60% majority vote requirement of those members present and voting.

    This press release is also available to download.

  • Philadelphia Campaign Finance Report – Cycle 1

    Is the amount a candidate has raised correlate to the chances of winning an election? Perhaps not. Asked differently, would you endorse a candidate who has few dollars in the final weeks of a campaign? Available is a recent analysis I’ve completed of contributions received by candidates and the current cash on hand, as of April 1, 2019. This information is publicly available at Philadelphia’s Office of the City Commissioners website in the Campaign Finance Reports page.

    A zero in the right most column (# Pages) indicates the candidate did not file a campaign finance report, according to the Office of City Commissioners. The report deadline was April 9, 2019 and complete as of April 1, 2019.

    City Commissioner candidates who reportedly have not filed are: Warren Bloom and Annette Thompson.

    There are also a number of Council-at-Large candidates who reportedly did not file, as required. They include: Wayne Allen, Latrice Bryant, Devon Cade, Wayne Dorsey and Edwin Santana. Janice Tangradi dropped out of the race near the filing deadline.

    You can download this table in spreadsheet format.

    Other public webpages on primary races in Philadelphia include: 2019 Philly Primary Candidates, Philly Power Research’s 24 page 2019 Philly Primary Candidates, 2.0 and 2019 Philadelphia Democratic Primary Endorsements – Citywide Races.

    Remember, Primary Election Day in Philadelphia is May 21. Be a voter.

    Philadelphia Campaign Finance Report – Cycle 1
    Candidate Office $ Contributions $ Cash on Hand # Pages
    James Kenney Mayor 651,722 655,692 143
    Alan Butkovitz Mayor 62,325 50,972 25
    Anthony Hardy Williams Mayor 58,500 49,078 11
    Kahlil Williams City Commissioner 127,200 170,406 95
    Lisa Deeley City Commissioner 91,950 103,916 56
    Omar Sabir City Commissioner 63,864 22,519 19
    Luigi Borda City Commissioner 43,176 37,460 30
    Jen Devor City Commissioner 33,256 33,586 47
    Dennis Lee City Commissioner 25,100 12,918 27
    Marwan Kreidie City Commissioner 9,657 5,406 21
    Moira Bohannon City Commissioner 2,885 -100 34
    Carla Cain City Commissioner 1,500 2,352 4
    Lewis Harris City Commissioner 0 500 1
    Warren Bloom City Commissioner 0
    Annette Thompson City Commissioner 0
    Allan Domb Council-at-Large 570,079 176,424 *
    Helen Gym Council-at-Large 193,900 410,831 *
    Justin DiBerardinis Council-at-Large 134,304 190,805 *
    Derek Green Council-at-Large 125,405 190,436 62
    Eryn Santamoor Council-at-Large 101,434 192,821 *
    Katherine Gilmore Richardson Council-at-Large 66,175 52,333 35
    Fernando Trevino Council-at-Large 61,457 29,799 38
    Erika Almiron Council-at-Large 58,118 55,307 45
    Beth Finn Council-at-Large 54,636 6,483 40
    Isaiah Thomas Council-at-Large 51,805 69,236 34
    Sandra Dungee Glenn Council-at-Large 51,730 31,733 36
    Joseph Diorio Council-at-Large 50,000 50,000 4
    Sherrie Cohen Council-at-Large 20,503 36,944 29
    Ethelind Baylor Council-at-Large 17,840 7,166 19
    Deja Lynn Alvarez Council-at-Large 14,587 3,544 50
    Adrian Rivera-Reyes Council-at-Large 14,474 10,751 21
    Hena Veit Council-at-Large 6,872 1 25
    Billy Thompson Council-at-Large 1,855 1,185 5
    Ogbonna Hagins Council-at-Large 1,250 0 2
    Fareed Abdullah Council-at-Large 1,147 1,232 7
    Asa Khalif Council-at-Large 630 283 6
    Mark Ross Council-at-Large 600 -69 1
    Vinny Black Council-at-Large 0 1
    Bobby Curry Council-at-Large 0 1
    Wayne Allen Council-at-Large 0
    Latrice Bryant Council-at-Large 0
    Devon Cade Council-at-Large 0
    Wayne Dorsey Council-at-Large 0
    Edwin Santana Council-at-Large 0
    Janice Tangradi Council-at-Large 0
    Jewell Williams Sheriff 45,450 36,385 27
    Rochelle Bilal Sheriff 25,086 4,563 22
    Malika Rahman Sheriff 11,330 3,654 14
    Larry King, Sr. Sheriff 2,275 3,062 6
    Mark Squilla District Council 1 86,065 163,742 18
    Lou Lanni District Council 1 2,950 454 7
    Kenyatta Johnson District Council 2 95,794 520,778 70
    Lauren Vidas District Council 2 65,120 68,451 *
    Jamie Gauthier District Council 3 132,159 118,523 *
    Jannie Blackwell District Council 3 71,190 52,611 19
    Curtis Jones, Jr. District Council 4 108,258 93,429 42
    Ronald Adams District Council 4 16,604 13,399 15
    Karla Cruel District Council 4 16,430 12,245 21
    Jeannette Geter District Council 4 5,791 399 8
    Omar Woodard District Council 5 58,994 48,332 25
    Darrell Clarke District Council 5 56,550 164,770 18
    Bobby Henon District Council 6 68,745 122,431 33
    Maria Quinones-Sanchez District Council 7 88,505 160,263 53
    Angel Cruz District Council 7 12,450 7,448 18
    Tonya Bah District Council 8 26,785 33,341 35
    Cindy Bass District Council 8 9,475 5,629 18
    Cherelle Parker District Council 9 148,185 122,696 42
    S. Archye Leacock District Council 9 500 1,225 6
    Judy Moore District Council 10 25,035 8,922 25
    Taras Smerechanskyy District Council 10 10,875 3,824 20