I had a chance this week to talk to the Courier-Post’s Phaedra Trethan a bit as she wrote her Camden Mayor Dana Redd retrospective. Her piece was fantastic and is reflective of a wider trend where there’s been an uptick in excellent reporting on Camden (by April Saul — more on her run for City Council run below –, Allison Steele and Phaedra, who have become regular faces in the city, and by Kevin Riordan and occasionally Kevin Shelly, who still have contacts from their time on the beat). And that discussion got me thinking that it was time to start looking at the upcoming mayor race in Camden. 

First, a few important quotes from Phaedra’s piece (and my conversation with her). Dr. Howard Gillette hit on the key theme; that the mayor of Camden has to work within difficult constraints: 

“She works within a framework, and she has to. She’s great in terms of working with people she needs to, but I’m concerned about the concentration of power around (county and state leaders) in Camden; I don’t see any reason to drop that concern even if it does do some good.”

I touched a bit on the same theme: 

“She’s had to walk a narrow line,” Danley said. “She had to learn what Camden would look like without a lot of state support. And she knew the best way to do that was to partner with the governor. So that meant an influx of money, but also an influx of conservative ideas.

“She made a practical decision, which was to take the money and figure out the rest of it on the fly.”

The piece is worth taking the time to read in its entirety, but it really nails the challenge of being mayor in Camden. It also lays out the significant challenge for any mayor that upends the local Democratic Party infrastructure; they’ll need support to govern. 

With Redd not running, there are a number of challengers. Each submitted petitions for office on Monday and though those petitions are yet to be validated, there’s buzz around the city and names are trickling out now that candidates and their volunteers have been going door-to-door for signatures. Of course, there’s going to be a lot to come in this space over the coming months about these races, but I wanted to start with a few observations (of course, these are mine, but contribute your own thoughts in the comments or a guest post!):

 — Any discussion of the mayoral race probably needs to start with City Council President Frank Moran, the presumptive frontrunner and the choice of the local county Democratic Party. We’ve already seen the support of Redd and Congressman Don Norcross, and the party line / party resources are going to be a critical part of this race. That said, there are whispers that this might be a “down cycle” for the party. The bench seems particularly thin, and while Arthur Barclay is beloved, he’s still growing into his position (and not yet ready for something like a mayoral run). There’s a wider question of whether the tough choices Mayor Redd made (including going to court to keep the police force off the ballot, and the refusal to work with residents attempting to ensure resources flowed from companies moving to Camden back into city neighborhoods) have left the party vulnerable to a serious primary challenge by eating away at core constituencies. 

 — It’s early, but it appears Ray Lamboy, the CEO of the Latin American Economic Development Association, is likely to be Moran’s most serious challenger. Lamboy put together a slate of candidates (critical in the oft-absurd jockeying for position on the ballot which is central to Jersey politics but completely a mystery to regular citizens). His slate, which includes Namibia El, Quinzel Bethea and Tracey Hall Cooper, shows that he’s also done some early coalition building. That, combined with his experience with state-wide campaigns, opens a door that’s rarely cracked in Camden; that of a serious, well-funded, challenge to county party dominance. 

 — that said, it’s going to be an uphill climb for Lamboy, made more so by the late decision to join the race (Lamboy was likely waiting to see if Redd would return for a third term). There’s a lot of organizing to be done here. Lamboy’s base is likely to be in his home community in Cramer Hill where he also is a parishioner St. Anthony of Padua’s Catholic Church. It remains to be seen where the Latino vote will land — and Moran was very visible when Sharp remained open and seems to be at least loosely connected to the Sen. Menendez pipeline of Latino leaders here in New Jersey. When Jose Delgado ran his oh-so-close campaign for mayor, he started with a secure Latino base and built a wider coalition from there. The Moran v. Lamboy dynamic makes that more difficult for both of them.

 — Theo Spencer, who ran against Mayor Redd in the 2013 primary, seemed poise to again be the locus for an “opposition vote” until Lamboy entered the race. My instinct is that while Spencer’s a respected businessman and former Board of Education member, he has an even steeper climb than Lamboy to put together a well-funded professional campaign in a short time period — a challenge reflected in his choice not to run alongside a slate of candidates. His best chance at relevance is probably if Lamboy and Moran split the Latino vote, and he rallies the African-American vote, but he could also play the role of spoiler, siphoning off the votes of those frustrated with the current administration and splitting the “protest vote” with Lamboy. 

 — Two more names I’ve occasionally heard on the rumor mill are Amir Kahn and Vida Neil. Amir put out a statement on Facebook saying he was not running and that he was focusing on supporting Jim Johnson in the governor’s race. I haven’t heard anything about Vida collecting signatures and she seems to have settled into a role as a vocal member of the Camden chapter of Communities United. 

 — finally, she’s not running for mayor, but April Saul is running for City Council. April came to the city a few years ago on a photography fellowship, and has since left the Philadelphia Inquirer and started a quite popular Facebook page called Camden: A Spirit Invincible while doing some fantastic journalism in the city. Saul is likely to become a flashpoint in a number of ways, including questions about how online following translate into votes, and the reception of white newcomers to the city by longtime residents with much reason to be skeptical of the latest person asking for power and trust. Lots more to think about with this news, but I’ll leave it there for now. 

 — it’s also worth noting that, unlike 4 years ago, I’ve lived in Camden long enough now to count some of those running for office as my friends. That makes questions about what to do with this space challenging, and something I’d like to hear your thoughts on. I can promise to try to be transparent as I figure out my role both as a writer here, and as a resident. Like many of us, I’m asking myself what’s required of me in a Trump world, both with regards to national politics and day-to-day interactions. With regards to these races, I did not sign any petitions of candidates to run. Similarly, I won’t use this space to make an endorsement at any step of the process, though it’s possible I’ll do so via a personal outlet later in the campaign. I’m not currently volunteering for any campaigns, and continue to play a background role in the city, one in which I’m happy to discuss and occasionally do informal work on policy and politics with those who reach out to me (whether you’re running for office, involved in governance, or just enjoy talking shop). As I continue to reevaluate my role, I’ll do the best to keep you informed. 

Finally, I just wanted to note that Dr. Howard Gillette had a fascinating quote in Phaedra’s article on Mayor Redd that I believe will be increasingly prescient as these campaigns move forward: 

“There are a lot of good things happening in Camden,” said Howard Gillette, a professor emeritus of history at Rutgers–Camden and author of the 2005 book “Camden After the Fall: Decline and Renewal in a Post-Industrial City.”

“But there is such a gap between the resources thrown at businesses, with long-term financial consequences, compared with the droplets being offered to the people actually living in the city,” he cautioned. “What are those people going to do? That’s a question being asked not just here, but nationally. We’ve thrown so much money at businesses — are they going to step up (and help the communities?)

“If they don’t, there’s not as much good news for the city.”

This type of skepticism about big business is the first time I’ve seen someone make a direct link between what’s happening in Camden, and the wider tectonic shifts in the Democratic Party. It’s the first time I’ve seen Bernie Sanders-esque language used to critique the changes here in the city. And, it may also be a roadmap to an unexpectedly competitive primary season.  

Tags: camden mayoral race