You can't tell the Democratic players in the race for the party's nod in the 5th District congressional race without a scorecard.
That's because there are 14 candidates seeking the nomination.
Uh, scratch that. Make it 13.
And maybe 12.
Yesterday, former CIA intelligence officer Shelly Chauncey withdrew from the campaign and threw her support behind former assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Lunkenheimer.
And we're hearing that George Badey, head of the Radnor Democratic committee, might also be ready to throw in the towel.
Yesterday we pointed out the irony that is facing Delco Democrats, who could not united behind one candidate at their endorsement meeting Sunday night.
Former Wallingford Swarthmore School Board member and attorney Mary Gay Scanlon remains the leader in the clubhouse. She led after all four rounds of voting, but still could not garner enough support to win the party's nomination.
After the last vote Scanlon had 218 votes, to 155 for Lunkenheimer.
The problem for Delco Democrats, as we pointed out yesterday, is the fear that the Delco candidates could splinter the vote and open the door for Rich Lazer, a former aide to Philly Mayor Jim Kenney who also has the support - and money - of labor boss John Dougherty behind him, to snag victory in the primary.
After years of whining about how the county was split between two congressional districts, with a chunk of the county, including the city of Chester, being included in the 1st District of Dem boss Bob Brady, the recent ruling and redrawing of the map by the state Supreme Court put the entire county in one district, the newly formed 5th.
But they also added a sliver of Montgomery County along the Main Line, as well as a strip of South and Southwest Philly.
Thus the possibility that a Philly guy, namely Lazer, could blunt the Delco Dems' victory.
We're not the only ones who have noticed.
Today's Clout column in the Philly Daily News also examines the same possibility.
It will be interesting to see if David Landau can get any other candidates to drop out of the race in an effort to unite the party.
We'll keep you updated.
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