City GOP reeling after big losses

In the wake of the landslide defeats of Republican mayoral candidate Joseph Egan and senatorial candidate Richard Thornburgh, the future of the Republican party in Philadelphia is muddled. Whether there will be a challenge to party boss William Meehan for party leadership, and who the challengers in that struggle might be, are questions that will be answered in the coming months. Egan's loss on Tuesday could reflect directly on Meehan, who selected the city businessman as a compromise mayoral candidate after the death of party nominee Frank Rizzo this summer. The loss also caps a year of defeat for Meehan who in the spring saw his handpicked primary candidate, Ron Castille, lose to the rebellious Rizzo. Now having passed over two likely stronger candidates, Castille and Sam Katz, to replace Rizzo, many are now questioning the party boss's strength. But almost all agree that Meehan, who has been running the Republican party for the past 15 years, will be a tough man to oust. "If Bill wants to go he will go," said Castille. "Nobody will be able to force him out." Many feel that Meehan chose Egan as a means of pulling the Castille and Katz factions of the party together. "You had to pick a person who could please the entire party," said Fran Rizzo, son of the late ex-mayor. And while no one was angered outright by Meehan's choice of Egan, no one was excited by it either, especially not the voters. Garnering only 32 percent of the vote, even the candidate himself seemed surprised at how badly he fared. "I was disappointed. I didn't think I'd do that badly," Egan said in an interview Tuesday night. "I got beaten hard." And Katz said Tuesday night he thought the obvious politicking that went into the choice affected Egan's ability to run. "[Egan] was. . . cramped by the manner that he was chosen and by the manner his campaign was run," he said. But longtime City Council member Thacher Longstreth said that any challenge to Meehan would be "idiotic." "If anyone wants to take over the Republican Party he'd better move to Albuquerque and try it down there," Longstreth said. "Billy's been the leader since I've been in it." But others said this was the time for a change in leadership for the Republican party. "I think the party got a big beating. We lost council races we should have won or been more competitive in," Katz said. "This should have been a great opportunity for the party, but there has been relatively little change. "We've got to be rethinking how we can promote the party, how we can be more effective, and select candidates more openly and reach and include more people," Katz said. But some observers consider Katz's call for improved party leadership to be a sign that he will be the one trying to take over. And, these observers say, a challenge will raise strong opposition. "We Republicans will not forget what Katz did," Longstreth said, referring to Katz's refusal to back out of the GOP mayoral primary once Castille was picked by Meehan, leading to Rizzo's win. When asked if he thought Katz would take control one day, Longstreth vehemently replied, "Not in my party." But if Philadelphia has not seen the last of Meehan, it has also not seen the last of Katz, Castille, and Egan. All three left open the possibility of reentering public life. Castille said that he enjoys public service and that he would consider an "appropriate spot," whether elected or appointed. Katz said that he plans "to remain active" in public life and that he wants "to play a role in achieving things." Egan said that he, too, would keep involved in city politics. "You're gonna hear from Joe Egan again. I will definitely run for office again," he said.

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