Katz began in politics as a Democrat, having worked as a campaign manager for Congressman
Bill Gray and Congressman
Bill Green. He later worked on
Wilson Goode's 1983 campaign for mayor, but broke with Goode in 1987 and supported former mayor
Frank Rizzo. He switched to the Republican Party (GOP) in 1990 Even though Katz had endorsements from the Philadelphia newspapers, and State Auditor General
Barbara Hafer, Katz finished third in the four-way primary, receiving little support outside Philadelphia.
1999 1999 was the year in which Katz emerged from the Republican field, running unopposed in the GOP
primary for mayor. He was selected as the candidate to run for mayor against city council president
John Street who withstood a negative advertising barrage to win a divisive Democratic primary. Katz, running as a moderate to liberal Republican, ran on a platform of cutting the high wage taxes in the city and bringing back businesses which had fled. Street ran citing his support of the Rendell administration's policies which many had felt rescued the city from a financial crisis. With a 75% voter registration advantage for the Democratic Party, Katz faced an uphill battle. The race turned out to be racially divisive with Street holding 94% support of the African-American majority wards and Katz boasting support from about 80% of the white-majority wards. Although both of the city's major daily newspapers, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News endorsed Katz's candidacy, in the end, Street held on to a slight 7,200-vote plurality on election day. This is the closest that a Republican has come in recent memory to winning a mayoral election. Between the 1999 and 2003 campaigns for mayor, he was the CEO of Greater Philadelphia First.
2003 After his close 1999 defeat, Katz was ready for a
2003 rematch with Street. Despite a good local economy and some success in bringing development to the city, the mayor was unpopular in many circles due to several corruption scandals which had come to light during the mayor's term. None of the scandals were attributed to the mayor personally, but investigations of many in his inner circle (including his brother
Milton) were a cause for concern for many residents. Katz's 2003 platform went back to the issue of wage and business tax cuts, but also included an anti-corruption platform to take advantage of the atmosphere in the city. With Katz running strong, the entire election changed in October, 2003 when a sweep of the mayor's office turned up a listening device. The
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) admitted that they had planted the device, although the mayor, himself, was not a target of the probe. At first, it seemed that the discovery could seriously hurt Street's re-election bid. However, Street deftly turned the issue around on his opponent. The campaign attacked the FBI for targeting a black mayor in the middle of the campaign. Street was able to use the issue to tie Katz to
President Bush, who was unpopular in the city. The move worked, bringing liberal white voters back into the Democratic camp. By election day, Street had opened up an insurmountable lead and won 58% of the vote. The race was captured in the documentary film
The Shame of a City, by
Tigre Hill. ==Post-political career==