Here’s How Philadelphia Cast Its Write-In Votes for Mayor

Recipients of write-in votes for mayor of Philadelphia included Vladimir Putin, Frank Rizzo, Taylor Swift, Michelle Obama, Helen Gym and Allan Domb (Getty Images)

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How Philly Cast Its Write-In Votes for Mayor

Yes, the primary election was last month. But we’re just now getting all of the write-in vote data from the city.

Allan Domb might have come up short for the Democratic nomination for mayor. But in terms of write-in votes, he was the most popular candidate among Republicans, who, because our primary is a closed primary, couldn’t push a button for him. So they wrote him in instead. Domb received 183 write-in votes, compared to Jeff Brown with 117, Cherelle Parker (who won the Democratic nomination) with 102, and Rebecca Rhynhart with 86. Not surprisingly, Helen Gym was the least-favored of the top Democratic contenders among Republican voters, who wrote her name in 44 times.

Among Democratic voters, 49 wrote in Republican candidate David Oh.

Those are write-in votes for actual candidates. What non-candidates received write-in votes for mayor? That list includes Vladimir Putin, Taylor Swift, former mayoral candidate Sam Katz, Malcolm X, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Jalen Hurts, Frank Rizzo, Bryce Harper, Michelle Obama and Donald Trump.

In the Democratic race for Council-at-large, I had to chuckle when I saw Spuds MacKenzie on the write-in list. Talk about a blast from the past.

The I-95 Collapse

As news of the I-95 collapse spread on Sunday and Monday, a lot of people were left asking the same question: Why was a truck filled with thousands of gallons of gasoline parked under a major interstate highway, and how did it blow up? Conspiracy theories began making their rounds. Well, it turns out that the truck wasn’t parked under I-95 at all. It was moving. According to state officials, the driver of the truck lost control of the vehicle, the truck crashed, the explosion immediately followed, the heat from the intense blaze caused the steel girders under I-95 to fail, and the driver died in the truck. The NTSB is in town conducting its own investigation as well.

Get Your Eagles Tickets!

Single-game tickets for the upcoming Eagles season go on sale today, with a limit of four tickets per household per game. We have eight regular-season home games and two home games in the preseason. The November 5th 4:25 p.m. game against the Cowboys is looking good to me.

Splish-Splash

With temperatures continuing to climb, the children of Philadelphia will be happy to hear that the city plans to open all 61 of its available pools this summer. Some city pools will open on Wednesday and these openings will continue on a rolling basis into July. More details to come. (You can track the progress here.) In the meantime, if you need some cooling off, don’t miss our guide to the city’s spraygrounds, which are now open.

By the Numbers

$1.17 million: Current auction bid for Wilt Chamberlain’s rookie uniform from Philadelphia.

334,000: Approximate number of backyard pools in Pennsylvania, landing us on the list of the 10 states with the most backyard pools. But no state has more dumpster pools.

$19.98 million: Grant awarded by the LEGO Foundation to Temple researcher Kathy Hirsh-Pasek for her work in early childhood learning. (She just so happens to be the mom of award-winning composer Benj Pasek.) You’d think they could’ve just called it an even $20 million.

21: Days the I-95 collapse disaster proclamation just signed by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro lasts, unless legislators approve an extension. The disaster declaration makes it easier to expedite the repair process.

And from the Nick-Clicks Sports Desk …

The Phils were in sunny Arizona, luckily, or their game last night would have been rained out for sure. Nick Castellanos got a two-out single off starter Tommy Henry in the first that led nowhere. For the Phils, Matt Strahm gave up a leadoff single, hit Corbin Carroll, and allowed a run on a sac fly. The Phils promptly tied it up on a J.T. Realmuto solo (of course) homer. In the third, with Trea Turner and Nick Castellanos on, Realmuto drove ’em in with a two-out triple, then came home on a double by Alec Bohm. Josh Harrison had a single that scored Bohm, then got picked off. Still: 5-1 Phils.

In the bottom half, Strahm plunked Carroll for a second time, manager Torey Lovullo was ejected, and the D-backs bench cleared.

The manager of the DBacks throwing a temper tantrum and wasting everyone’s time pic.twitter.com/63473me3Od

— Life of a Philly Fan (@PhillyFanLife) June 13, 2023

After a two-run single by Pavin Smith brought two runs home, Yunior Marte came in for the final out.

Arizona made it 5-5 in the fourth on a double, a single and a triple. Great, great. Dylan Covey came in for the fifth and sixth and in the latter gave up a chop single, a bloop single, and a long fly that scored a run. That brought in Andrew Vasquez and a Corbin Carroll single. Hey, he didn’t get hit! Oh, did I mention the Evan Longoria three-run homer? That made it 9-5 Arizona. Gee, and it had looked so promising.

In the seventh, though, Schwarber walked, and Harper singled him home, bringing up J.T., who had that homer, the triple and a single under his belt. And he … walked. Alec Bohm got a single, though, scoring Harper: 9-7. Vasquez stayed in for the bottom half and gave up a walk, a single, and a double play that got him out of the jam. The Phils in the eighth got jack, then sent reliever Phil Hoffman out to get three straight outs. For the Phils’ last chance in the ninth, J.T. led off with a double:

J.T. REALMUTO HITS FOR THE CYCLE pic.twitter.com/1dFVkWXxcB

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 13, 2023

It was the Phils’ first since David Bell in 2004. Nick took third on a ground-out and came home on a Stott single with two outs: 9-8. Kody Clemens at the plate! And I’ll be goddamned: Clemens hit a homer! Or did he? The umpires huddled, reviewed it, and ruled it foul — correctly, alas, and Kody came back to the plate and struck out. End of game. Next one’s tonight at 9:40; Wednesday’s a late game, too. Plan your week accordingly.

I would write about Valerie Camillo leaving the Flyers, but that’s, you know, the Flyers, so …

All Philly Today Sports Desk coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.