Brendan Boyle

Democrat Brendan Boyle and state Rep. John Perzel (R-Philadelphia) appear to have the upper-hand in early returns of their closely-watched state House races in northeast Philadelphia.

Boyle, who is running against Republican Matt Taubenberger for the open 170th Legislative District seat, was leading Taubenberger by more than 20 points, with more than two-thirds of districts reporting.

Perzel, the longtime GOP powerhouse running against Democrat Rich Costello, was leading by more than 30 points, with 86 percent of precincts reporting.

PHILADELPHIA-Polls are about to start closing, but two state House candidates in northeast Philadelphia are still fighting over factually-incorrect campaign literature.

After it was revealed that ads being run by Republican Matt Taubenberger, which labeled Democrat Brendan Boyle a "tax deadbeat," were based on incorrect city information, a Common Pleas Court judge issued an injunction ordering a stop to any mailings or Election Day handouts continuing the false campaign attack.

Apparently those "tax deadbeat" ads being run by Republican state House candidate Matt Taubenberger were based on faulty information from Philadelphia's Department of Revenue.

Taubenberger, who is trying to succeed his retiring boss state Rep. George Kenney (R-Philadelphia), had accused Democratic opponent Brendan Boyle of failing to pay property taxes in widely circulated print advertisements.

But according to The Daily News, the premise of the ads was simply a bookkeeping error by the city, one that has since been fixed.

Taubenberger, whose underdog race against Boyle is reportedly tightening, is unconvinced.

"This is all highly questionable and suspect," he said.

The race to replace retiring state Rep. George Kenney (R-Philadelphia) has tightened in recent weeks, with underdog Republican Matt Taubenberger closing a gap in the polls against Democrat Brendan Boyle, according to a Capitolwire report (subscription only).

Kenney has represented northeast Philadelphia's 170th Legislative District for years, leaving it as one of the increasingly Democratic city's few Republican strongholds. But with him on the way out, Democrats are hoping that Boyle, considered a rising star and being well-funded by the party, can take the seat back. Most internal polling had shown Taubenberger, Kenney's constituent services director and the son of last year's failed mayoral candidate Al Taubenberger, trailing by double-digits.

But the Capitolwire report, citing an unnamed Democrat, said Boyle's lead is now "paper-thin." High-profile state Republicans have apparently been pouring money into the race of late in the hopes of keeping control of what is still one of the city's most conservative districts.

Like other traditionally conservative, Democratic trending districts, much could depend on turnout for the presidential race, and how each candidate at the top of the ticket fares.

The heated battle for an open state House seat in northeast Philadelphia has spilled over into newspaper advertising pages, with both candidates being branded liars just over a week before Election Day.

Democrat Brendan Boyle, and Republican Matt Taubenberger, are fighting to replace retiring state Rep. George Kenney (R-Philadelphia) in the 170th Legislative District. Though the district is one of the more conservative in the overwhelmingly Democratic city, Boyle's financial edge, his rising-star status and significant party support has most political watchers giving him the edge.

That hasn't stopped Taubenberger, the son of last year's failed mayoral candidate Al Taubenberger, from running a hard campaign. He's been rolling out policy positions, knocking on doors, sometimes with his well-known father, and trying to tie Boyle to the city's Democratic establishment. In September, he raised issues about Boyle's campaign finance data, leading Boyle to accuse Taubenberger of campaigning on taxpayer time.

The rhetoric escalated with recent full-page newspaper ads, which ran in both The Daily News and The Inquirer and accused Boyle of being a "tax deadbeat," owing taxes on low-income rental properties in northeast Philadelphia.

"Don't be fooled by Brendan Boyle's lies," the ad says.

In a reflection of Taubenberger's minimal campaign cash, the ads are funded not by his campaign, but by the political action committee for longtime state Rep. John Perzel (R-Philadelphia), the city's GOP icon who represents the neighboring 172nd Legislative District.

The Boyle campaign shot back with an ad of its own, which loudly proclaimed: "Republican Matt Taubenberger is so desperate, he'll say anything about Brendan Boyle-but the truth."

Both ads use screen-shots from the city's Department of Revenue Web site to make their case. They have increasingly run close together in The Inquirer. In Monday's paper, they run on back-to-back odd-numbered ad pages in the local section.

(PHILADELPHIA) – Republican legislative candidate Matt Taubenberger today asked the Philadelphia Department of Revenue to disclose if Brendan Boyle's campaign committee paid city taxes on business income it may have earned last year as a result of purchasing political advertising for City Councilman Bill Greenlee.

(PHILADELPHIA) – Republican legislative candidate Matt Taubenberger today criticized his Democratic opponent Brendan Boyle saying, “the last thing we need is a state Representative who is a full-time low-income housing landlord.”

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter endorsed fellow Democrat Brendan Boyle for state House Tuesday, calling him a "great candidate."

Boyle, a rising star in Philadelphia Democratic circles, is running against Republican Matt Taubenberger in the 170th Legislative District. With the seat being vacated by retiring state Rep. George Kenney (R-Philadelphia), Democrats hope to take back what has long been a Republican stronghold in northeast Philadelphia.

"I look forward to working with Brendan when he in Harrisburg on the important issues our city faces," Nutter said in a statement. "We will make a great team."

It's no surprise that a Republican candidate for office would take an opportunity to criticze Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter over his decision to use taxpayer money for travel costs of aides accompanying him to the Democratic convention in Denver next week.

But it's a bit more suprising when the Republican in question is the son of one of the mayor's biggest fans.

Matt Taubenberger, who is running for state House in Northeast Philadelphia's 171st Legislative District, wrote a letter to Nutter asking him to reconsider the decision, The Inquirer reports.

Taubenberger's father Al ran an unsuccessful general election campaign against Nutter last fall. But the campaign was as friendly as they get, and the elder Taubenberger recently said Nutter was doing a great job.

Matt Taubenberger is running against Democrat Brendan Boyle in the hopes of replacing his retiring boss, longtime state Rep. George Kenney (R-Philadelphia). 

It's hard for Republicans to win elected office at any level in Philadelphia, where Democrats outnumber GOP voters by more than five to one. So when Republicans have seats, especially in traditionally more conservative wards in the northeast sections of the city, the party tends to hold on to them dearly.

But one of those few GOP strongholds could very well fall this year, with a longtime Republican incumbent retiring and two young upstart politicians vying to replace him.

State Rep. George Kenney (R-Philadelphia) has held the 170th District state House seat since 1985, making him one of the longest-serving Republican officeholders in the city. But after narrowly beating Democrat Brendan Boyle in 2006, Kenney decided to retire after this year.

Now, Boyle is running again, this time against Republican Matt Taubenberger, who heads up Kenney's constituent services office. He is also the son of Al Taubenberger, last year's failed Republican mayoral candidate.

Despite Taubenberger's role in Kenney's office, Boyle has reason to see momentum on his side, with the entire state leaning gradually more Democratic. And in a district where he lost by just over 1,000 votes two years ago, he is certain to face an easier race without an incumbent in the picture.

"It's much easier running in an open seat than running against an incumbent," Boyle told PolitickerPA.com last week.