A former cop prepares to take on Philly's most-entrenched Republican

Republicans in Philadelphia have long been an endangered breed, nudged out of power by an increasingly liberal city and left to fend for themselves by a city GOP that is largely content to let Democrats have City Hall in exchange for some of the few city patronage jobs remaining.

Republican state Rep. John Perzel, however, is a different story.

A 29-year incumbent in Northeast Philadelphia's 172nd Legislative District and a former House speaker and majority leader, he is the most powerful Republican in Philadelphia political circles, with the possible exception of U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter. A reliable fundraiser for his Republican colleagues early and often, rarely has Perzel's his grip on power loosened much, as he has managed to stay in office through years of Republican defeats in Philadelphia.

"He helped so many people get elected to the House, that whenever he wanted to move up the leadership ladder, they looked favorably on him," said Lowman Henry, CEO of the Lincoln Institute, a Harrisburg public opinion organization.

"He had chips he could pull in," added Henry, a frequent critic of Perzel's after working with him as a political director for the state GOP into the early 1980s.

As Perzel, 58, campaigns for a mind-boggling 15th term, his opponent is a different kind of tough guy: Longtime city cop and former police union chief Rich Costello. A city police officer for more than three decades, the 57-year-old Costello was president of the local Fraternal Order of Police for 10 years. And while some political watchers think Perzel could be vulnerable this year, others scoff at the notion that the entrenched and well-funded incumbent could possibly be knocked off.

"[Republicans] certainly can't afford to lose Perzel's seat," said G. Terry Madonna, a pollster and political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster.

In a recent interview with PolitickerPA.com, Costello said that as he considered possible post-retirement careers, he found he was either overqualified or too old for most jobs.

"In the statehouse, I am neither," he said.

He acknowledged the difficulties of going up against a Northeast Philadelphia fixture like Perzel, but said the district was more than ready for a change.

"Mr. Perzel has been in office over 30 years -- I feel somewhere along the way he lost sight of the reason he was there," Costello said. "The reason is to serve the constituents of the 172nd District, not to amass personal power. At the end of the 30 years, whatever he has accomplished he has accomplished. If it hasn't gotten done, it won't get done."

Perzel, for his part, called Costello a "formidable adversary," but said his time in Harrisburg was far from over.

"I think it's time to go when you lack ideas and when there's no passion for the job, and I have all those things for this job," Perzel said.

In his years as one of Philadelphia's few Republican voices in Harrisburg, there have been many moments that demonstrated Perzel's power. He was elected House speaker in 2003, and was a key player in state takeovers of both the Philadelphia School District and the Philadelphia Parking Authority, the latter of which has provided reliable patronage hiring for city Republicans.

But perhaps most telling was his near-defeat to Democrat Mark Chilutti in 2000, when Perzel won re-election by less than 100 votes. Caught off-guard, Perzel used the2002 redistricting to redraw the 172nd in along jagged lines that gave him the most reliably Republican district in the city.

"He's got about the best seat you could have," Madonna said.

Even so, Democrats have a slight registration edge in the district, leading some to think Perzel could be in for a fall surprise. If Republican lawmakers are indicted in the Bonusgate scandal like their Democratic colleagues, or if Democratic turnout for the presidential election is high enough and spreads to downballot races, Perzel could be especially vulnerable.

"It's a race you have to consider competitive," said Chris Borick, a pollster and political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown.  "But I think he's such a fixture there that he still has to be considered a favorite."

Though he can push for high turnout and canvass what is a relatively small area, Costello can hardly hope to rival Perzel's fundraising prowess. While Costello raised about $8,000 in the month following the April primary, Perzel raised more than $80,000.

"Keep in mind that [Perzel] basically drew his district block by block to stay in power," Henry said. "So the playing field is tilted in his favor."