So who won the $10,000?

So who won the $10,000?

That's right, we weren't joking yesterday when we blogged about one lucky voter in Philadelphia winning $10,000 just for showing up and exercising her constitutional right.

The $10G prize went to Bridget Conroy-Varnis, who cast her ballot at her polling place at Fourth and Shunk in South Philly just after 6:30 p.m.

The idea was the brain child of some Philly civic activists, including former mayoral candidate Sam Katz and former Mayor John Street to increase voter turnout. It didn't really work. Voter turnout was light in the city, even for a mayoral race.

But money was more than evident in other statewide races.

We used our editorial page today to talk about this promotion. Look, we're not big fans of the idea of paying people to vote. It's a very slippery slope to paying people for their votes.

But when you look at the money that poured into that race for three openings on the state Supreme Court, it makes you wonder if what is good for the goose could be good for the gander.

The three Democrats, including Kevin Dougherty, brother of Philly union boss John Dougherty, dwarfed their GOP counterparts in fundraising, with the expected results at the polls.

We'd like to think that paying people to vote would not be necessary.

But when you see the effect money has on who wins these races, it certainly makes you wonder.