The 2011 Philadelphia mayoral election was held on November 8, 2011, to elect the mayor of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Incumbent

Michael Nutter Michael Anthony Nutter (born June 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia. Elected on November 6, 2007, he was reelected to a second term on November 8, 2011. He is a previous member of the Philadelphia ...

had been

Mayor of Philadelphia The mayor of Philadelphia is the chief executive of the government of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Philadelphia. The current mayor of Philadelphia is Jim Kenney. History The first mayor of Philadelphia, ...

since 2008 after being elected in the 2007 election, and was re-elected with approximately 75% of the vote.

Primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

s were held on May 17, 2011.

Primary elections

On December 22, 2010, Democratic

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

officially announced that he would seek re-election. With the backing of health unions and the Black Clergy, Nutter was favored by a wide margin to win re-election. His only challenger in the primaries was

Milton Street Thomas Milton Street Sr. (April 25, 1941 – November 28, 2022) was an American businessman, a Pennsylvania state senator from Philadelphia, and the brother of former Philadelphia mayor John F. Street. Originally a street hot dog vendor, he r ...

, brother of former Mayor

John F. Street John Franklin Street (born October 15, 1943) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 97th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. He was first elected to a term beginning on January 3, 2000, and was re-elected to a second term beginn ...

, who announced his bid on February 17, 2011. Having spent time in federal prison for a non-felony offense - failure to taxes, he described his plans to work toward finding jobs for convicts after their release. John Street told ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

that Nutter was "not a black mayor ... just a mayor with dark skin." Nutter said those comments were ignorant and said "I don't think anyone ever asked

Ed Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philade ...

was he white enough." Nutter had been criticized for "stop and frisk" policies and service cuts. The

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

primary election saw two candidate vying for office. Real estate agent John Featherman filed in June 2010 to become eligible for the election so that he could fight against increasing taxes and to create a more "business-friendly climate" in the city. In March 2011, former Democrat Karen Brown announced her bid to run as a Republican in the upcoming mayoral election. Though she had numerous ties to the city Democratic party, she won the backing of the city Republican party at an event in late March.

s were held on May 17, 2011.

General election

Polling

The general election was held on November 8, 2011. With all but one precinct reporting, Nutter received 74.69% of the vote. Nutter's approval rating in February 2011 was 50%, and in March 2011 was 52%. A hypothetical matchup poll conducted by the Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group between Nutter and Brown showed Nutter leading with 74%.Middleberg, Geoffrey
"Poll Shows Mayor Nutter Strong Against Potential Rival"
"Politics PA", June 9, 2011, accessed August 5, 2011.

Results

References

External links

The Committee of 70 Elections Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philadelphia Mayoral Election, 2011 2011 in Philadelphia 2011 Pennsylvania elections

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

November 2011 events in the United States