2007 Philadelphia mayoral election

← 2003 November 6, 2007 2011 →
Turnout	29%[1] 10pp
Nominee Michael Nutter Al Taubenberger Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 227,090 46,984 Percentage 82.52% 17.07%
Ward results Precinct results Nutter:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Taubenberger:     50–60%     60–70% Tie:     50% No votes:
Mayor before election John F. Street Democratic Elected mayor Michael Nutter Democratic

The2007 Philadelphia mayoral election was held on November 6, 2007 whenPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania,United States electedMichael Nutter as theMayor of Philadelphia starting in 2008. The incumbent mayor,John F. Street was barred from seeking a third term because ofterm limits. TheDemocratic Party primary campaign saw two well-known, well-funded Philadelphiacongressmen –Bob Brady andChaka Fattah – eclipsed by self-fundingbusinessmanTom Knox andreformist formerPhiladelphia City Council member Nutter, who won by a surprisingly large margin in theprimary election on May 15. He went on to faceRepublican Party nomineeAl Taubenberger in the general election, which he won by a large margin and with the lowestvoter turnout in a Philadelphia mayoral election without an incumbent since 1951.^[2] Mayor Nutter was sworn in on January 7, 2008.

The 2007 Philadelphia mayoral election was held to select the replacement for incumbentMayorJohn F. Street, who was prevented from being re-elected a third time byterm limits. Nearly four out of five Philadelphia voters are registeredDemocrats and the city has not elected aRepublican mayor in close to sixty years.^[3]

The two major issues in the mayoral campaign werecrime andcorruption. Philadelphians felt crime was the most important issue because of the city's rising murder rate. There were more than 400 murders in 2006, the most in almost a decade. Corruption was also an important issue. A corruption probe resulted in the conviction a close to two dozen people, some with close ties to Mayor John F. Street.^[3] An early poll on issues concerning young adults, crime was the number one issue withpublic transit,economic development,education andjob growth rounding out the top five.^[4]

Philadelphia City Council memberMichael Nutter won the Democratic mayoral primary on May 15. His opponent, businessmanTom Knox came in second, with congressmenBob Brady andChaka Fattah andState RepresentativeDwight Evans coming in third, fourth, and fifth respectively.^[3]

Businessman Tom Knox had started off strong as his self-financedcampaign created a barrage ofadvertising. However, Nutter's message of government reform and criticism of mayor Street gained him enough support to win the primary.

Results by ward

Al Taubenberger became the Republican nominee after running unopposed.^[3]

On November 6, Michael Nutter easily won the mayoral election, receiving 83.4% of the vote to Taubenberger's 17.3%. The margin of victory is the largest since 1931.^[9] Nutter's margin of victory was so large theAssociated Press declared a winner after just one percent of the vote was counted.Turnout in the election was light with only 28.7 percent of registered voters casting a ballot. The 2007 election had the lowest turnout in a Philadelphia mayoral election without an incumbent since the Home Rule Charter of 1951.^[2]

In the general election, the candidates for Mayor were:

• Michael Nutter – A formerPhiladelphia City Councilman who left his seat in 2006 to run for mayor as a Democrat.^[3]
• Al Taubenberger – The President of the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce who ran as a Republican.^[10]
• John Staggs – AGermantownmeat packer who ran as a member of theSocialist Workers Party.^[11]

In the general election, Michael Nutter became the odds-on favorite to win the election. Nutter raised US$2.9 million for his campaign while Taubenberger raised no more than US$20,000. The candidates held numerous joint appearances and had few disagreements. Towards the end of the race Taubenberger was advertising himself as the "superunderdog" .^[12]

One of the most significant disagreements on issues the two candidates had was on Nutter's "stop andfrisk" proposal. The proposal would allowpolice officers to stop and frisk people suspected of carrying illegalfirearms. Taubenberger criticized the proposal, which was also criticized by Nutter's opponents in the primary and Police CommissionerSylvester Johnson, saying the proposal could be abused and violatecivil rights. Taubenberger proposed hiring more police officers to reduce the city's highmurder rate.

Other disagreements dealt with the city's requirement that public employees live within the city, which Taubenberger proposed removing. Nutter said he would keep the rule, but would remove the restriction that allows only people who have lived in the city for at least one year to apply for city positions. Nutter and Taubenberger also disagreed on the city's decision to charge rent for theCradle of Liberty Council as result of theBoy Scouts of America's policy onhomosexuality which the city says violates its laws ondiscrimination. Nutter supported the decision saying his administration would not subsidize discrimination. Taubenberger said the decision was wrong because the Boy Scouts do too much good and keep kids off the streets.^[13]

Results by ward

• The Next Mayor: an election website sponsored by Philadelphia Daily News, WHYY, and the Committee of 70.
• Philadelphia Inquirer website on the race

• 2007 in Philadelphia
• 2007 Pennsylvania elections
• 2007 United States mayoral elections
• Mayoral elections in Philadelphia

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from January 2025
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from September 2023
• Pages using sidebar with the child parameter