William Ciancaglini
William Ciancaglini (Republican Party) ran for election for Mayor of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2019.
Ciancaglini completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
2019 battleground election
This section is adopted from Mayoral election in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2019). To learn more, click here.
Incumbent James Kenney (D), attorney Billy Ciancaglini (R), and any declared nonpartisan candidates ran in the November 5, 2019, general election for mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kenney defeated former City Controller Alan Butkovitz (D) and state Sen. Anthony Williams (D) in the May 21, 2019, Democratic primary.
At the time of the 2019 election, no incumbent mayor seeking re-election had been defeated since the city's charter was adopted in 1951.[1]
Kenney said he raised the minimum wage for city employees to $15 per hour, ended municipal agencies' cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and ensured the city's compliance with the Paris Climate Agreement.[2]
Ciancaglini promised to end Philadelphia's status as a sanctuary city and to cancel plans to establish sites where people can legally inject heroin.[3] No Republican has won a Philadelphia mayoral election since Bernard Samuel (R) in 1947.[4]
Philadelphia has a strong mayor-council system. In this form of municipal government, an elected mayor serves as the city's chief executive officer while an elected city council serves as the municipal legislature. The mayor's powers include the ability to veto council approved bills and to submit the city's initial budget proposal.[5] The mayor is elected to a four-year term and may serve no more than two consecutive terms.[6]
Nonpartisan candidates had until August 1, 2019, to file.
Elections
2019
See also: Mayoral election in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2019)
General election
General election for Mayor of Philadelphia
Incumbent James Kenney defeated William Ciancaglini in the general election for Mayor of Philadelphia on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | James Kenney (D) | 80.0 | 213,390 |
 | William Ciancaglini (R)  | 19.7 | 52,537 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 724 | ||
| Total votes: 266,651 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Mayor of Philadelphia
Incumbent James Kenney defeated Anthony Williams and Alan Butkovitz in the Democratic primary for Mayor of Philadelphia on May 21, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | James Kenney | 66.9 | 133,966 |
 | Anthony Williams | 24.3 | 48,672 | |
 | Alan Butkovitz | 8.8 | 17,517 | |
| Total votes: 200,155 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Mayor of Philadelphia
William Ciancaglini advanced from the Republican primary for Mayor of Philadelphia on May 21, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | William Ciancaglini | 99.6 | 17,291 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 68 | ||
| Total votes: 17,359 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Candidate profile
Party: Republican
Incumbent: no
Political office: None
Biography: Ciancaglini graduated from La Salle University in 2000 and obtained his law degree from Temple University in 2003. As an attorney, Ciancaglini worked in the law offices of Joseph Santaguida before beginning his own criminal defense practice. He ran for Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas in 2015 as a Democrat but did not advance past the primary.[7]
- Ciancaglini said that Kenney had mismanaged the city, adding, "No other Mayor of Philadelphia has ever started with such high hopes only to disappoint us on an almost weekly basis.[7]
- Ciancaglini emphasized his South Philadelphia upbringing and his outsider status. On his Facebook page's official biography, Ciancaglini said that, "I’m not a recent transplant and I’m not a complacent incumbent merely collecting a paycheck for decades."[7]
- Ciancaglini said that if elected he would repeal the soda tax, end Philadelphia's status as a sanctuary city, and cancel plans to establish areas where drug users can legally inject heroin.[3]
Polls
Campaign finance
2017
Ciancaglini filed to run for the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, but withdrew his candidacy on March 22, 2017.
2015
- See also: Pennsylvania judicial elections, 2015
Pennsylvania's judicial elections included a primary on May 19, 2015, and a general election on November 3, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates was March 11, 2015.
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary.
Selection method
- See also: Partisan election of judges
The 439 judges of the court of common pleas are elected to 10-year terms in partisan elections. Candidates may cross-file with both political parties for the partisan primaries, which are followed by general elections where the primary winners from each party compete.[8][9] Judges must run in yes-no retention elections if they wish to continue serving after their first term. A separate part of the ballot is designated for these elections, and judges' names appear without respect to party affiliation.[8][10]
- The president judge of each Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas is chosen by either peer vote or seniority, depending on the size of the court. Statewide, all courts composed of more than seven individuals must select their chief judge by peer vote. Those with seven or fewer members select their chief by seniority.[8][11]
Qualifications
To serve on an appellate or general jurisdiction court, a judge must:[8]
- have state residence for at least one year;
- be a district resident for at least one year (for common pleas judges);
- be a member of the state bar; and
- be under the age of 75.
While retirement at 75 is mandatory, judges may apply for senior judge status. Senior judges may serve as such until the last day of the calendar year in which they turn 78.[11]
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
William Ciancaglini completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ciancaglini's responses.
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
Eliminate the Soda Tax. End the Sanctuary City. Stop the Safe Injection Sites.
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
Fix the tax abatement policy. Fix or schools. Reduce crime. Lower taxes.
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?
Common sense.
What legacy would you like to leave?
I'd like to leave Philadelphia better off than when I originally took office.
What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?
Flyers won the Stanley Cup.
What was your very first job? How long did you have it?
Deliver driver for Domino's Pizza.
What is your favorite holiday? Why?
Thanksgiving.
If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?
Hulk.
What is your favorite thing in your home or apartment? Why?
My television.
What was the last song that got stuck in your head?
Don't Stop Believin'
What is something that has been a struggle in your life?
Dealing with the daily aggravation caused by Jim Kenney.
What do you love most about your city?
The people.
What do you perceive to be your city's greatest challenges over the next decade?
Lower crime and creating new jobs.
What do you believe is the ideal relationship between your city and the federal government?
Don't disagree with the President on every single issue simply because of some fictitious feud.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Ciancaglini's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
The "Soda Tax" This tax is hurting the Mom & Pop stores which have been a staple of the Philadelphia communities for generations. People are now buying soda and everything else outside of the city. Again, Philadelphia residents don’t want this tax, it’s hurting our corner store owners, and I’ll fight to get rid of it. I stand with the Moms and the Pops. Sanctuary City Jim Kenney never asked if we wanted this. WE elected him and he betrayed OUR trust. Enjoy your 4 years, Mr. Kenney. In 2019, please give me your vote for Mayor and let’s take OUR city back! Safe Injection Sites Property Taxes Crime I will establish more community meetings and town hall sessions in local police districts. All residents want to know what the issues are in his or her neighborhood. We need better communication between police and the community. Education There should be a temporary prohibition on additional charter school in the District until their results and costs are comparable to the level of quality for our existing public schools. I will propose legislation to strengthen teachers unions and give our educators better compensation and sensible class sizes. We need to listen to our teachers and curb high stakes testing and allow them to educate our children as they see fit. My office would work WITH teachers to allow them to do their very important task — educating our children. The role of an educator is one the the most important in our society. I would like our teachers to EDUCATE ME as to what is necessary to do their vital jobs. I see very few more pressing needs than the safety and education of our children. Bring More Jobs to Philadelphia Illegal Drugs We are losing too many of our young people to addiction. As an attorney, I see this every day and am very familiar with programs and affordable ways to help people get off of narcotics. Through my career, I’m proud to write that I have helped countless people become healthy and now I’d like to help our city. Mayor Rizzo Statue and Mural Helen Gym, who was born in Seattle and raised in Ohio, recently called for the removal of the statue claiming it was “a monument to slavery and racism.” She is simply incorrect. Sometimes it’s best to defer opinions about a city’s history by actually speaking to the residents who lived there at the time. I promise to find the most suitable relocation for the Mayor Rizzo statue upon my election. If it must move, I will lovingly accept it in front of my private residence in place of a tree. Think I’m joking? Get the proper equipment to move it and try me! The National Anthem |
” |
| —Billy for Philly[13] | ||
See also
2019 Elections
Footnotes
- ↑ WHYY, "Butkovitz to challenge Philly Mayor Kenney in 2020," November 15, 2018
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedkenney1 - ↑ 3.0 3.1 Billy for Philly, "Home," accessed March 18, 2019
- ↑ City of Philadelphia, "Mayors of the City of Philadelphia," accessed March 21, 2019
- ↑ Committee of Seventy, "How City Council Works," accessed March 15, 2019
- ↑ City of Philadelphia, "Mayors of the City of Philadelphia," accessed March 15, 2019
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Facebook, "Billy for Mayor," June 1, 2018
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Pennsylvania," archived October 3, 2014
- ↑ The Morning Call, "Ban Cross-filing As One Step," January 24, 1985
- ↑ The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, "In Re: Nomination Papers of Marakay Rogers, Christina Valente and Carl J. Romanelli," November 7, 2006
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Pennsylvania Code, "Chapter 7. Assignment of Judges," accessed September 3, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Billy for Philly, "Issues," accessed May 9, 2019
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