PAYTON's BAtTLES IN THE 179th HOUSE DISTRICT

For Tony Payton, running for political office always seems to end up being a near-death experience.

Take this year, for example.

Payton, a freshman running for re-election in 179th House District, had his nominating petitions challenged by his rival for the Democratic nomination, Guy D. Lewis.

The Payton campaign had submitted petitions with 1,361 signatures. In court, though, many were invalidated by the judge as incorrect, incomplete or, in some cases, as forgeries.

Payton needed 300 true and correct signatures to stay on the ballot.

Last week, the judge validated 386 signatures.

Payton will stay on the April 22 ballot – by the skin of his teeth.

Two years ago, when Payton first ran for the state House, the race drew a lot of contenders because Rep. Bill Rieger, the long-time incumbent, was retiring.

But, judges knocked Payton's two opponents off the ballot for various reasons.

In this district, which runs through a half-dozen neighborhoods, including Frankford, Juniata and Hunting Park, winning the Democratic nomination is tantamount to election. So Payton was safe?

Not quite. Carlos Matos, then Democratic leader in the 19th Ward, waged a write-in campaign for his candidate, Emilio Vazquez, that garnered nearly 1,000 votes.

On primary night, Payton was declared winner by 19 votes Then a Common Pleas judge added 52 disputed Vazquez votes to the total and declared Payton the loser. A Commonwealth Court judge later removed those disputed vote from the total.

When all was said and done (and it took a trip to the state Supreme Court to settle the issue) Payton was declared winner by 19 votes.

Payton's campaign manager, David Dix, told me that his side was always confident that Payton would stay on the ballot this year, despite the legal challenge to his petitions.

But, the court fight did burn up time and money that the freshman could have used for other purposes – such as his own campaign.

(Payton's first campaign finance report for 2008 shows a $15,000 payment to the Pittsburgh law firm that handled the signature case. I am sure the final bill will be higher. He had $33,000 on hand as of mid-March.)

That said, the worst may be over for Tony Payton.

The 27-year-old legislator has worked the district hard since his was elected. He is a darling of progressive voters and a big supporter of Barack Obama.

He certainly is more visible than Rieger, who –after nearly 40 years in the seat – was barely breathing. He lived outside the district and was chronically absent from Harrisburg.

Rieger was a wooly mammoth of Democratic politics. As a ward leader dating back to the days of Mayor James H.J. Tate, he did have the support of his fellow ward leaders and enough pull in Harrisburg to periodically realign his increasingly black and Latino district to include more white voters. (Rieger is German-American.)

When it comes to race and ethnicity, the 179th today is a polyglot: 34 percent white, 33 percent black, 28 percent Latino and 6 percent Asian, according to the 2000 U.S. Census..

Lewis, 53, a nurse who works at Temple Hospital, is a political neophyte better known for his backers than anything else.

He has the support of Marge Tartaglione, leader of Mayfair's 62nd Ward and Daniel Savage, head of Frankford's 23rd Ward.

Their endorsement is important because 54 percent of the district's Democratic voters live in those two wards.

(For the record, both Payton and Lewis are African American.)

In a low-turnout election, the ward leaders might be able to push enough voters towards Lewis to make this race competitive.

But it will be tougher in a super-heated primary, with the Obama-Hilary Clinton race driving up turnout.

There is where some of Payton's big-name endorsements will help. It is a list of that includes Mayor Nutter, Gov. Rendell and state Rep. Dwight Evans.

The day I talked to Dix, Payton was out making calls for contributions. He planned to spend the evening canvassing the district.

Bruce Kilpatrick, Lewis's campaign manager, said his candidate was doing the same thing.

Kilpatrick touted Lewis as a life-long resident of the district, an R. N. active in local community groups, and an Army reservist who served in the first Gulf War.

But, Payton is the incumbent. He will have more money. He will use direct mail to get out info on his record and his stellar endorsements.

Odds are he will survive once again.

Contact Tom Ferrick Jr. at tferrik@gmail.com