Famous 4th Street Deli serves up a muted primary election day

Famous 4th Street Deli serves up a muted primary election day
Randi Fair

On primary election day, campaigning gets a last-minute turbo boost, with candidates scouring the city to woo voters, and one lunch spot is always popular with Philadelphia Democrats.

But something was different this year.

For four decades, the Famous 4th Street Delicatessenhas been a go-to spot for politicos and movers and shakers about town for noshing, hand-shaking and back-slapping, but on Tuesday, it was rather quiet.

“It was kind of odd,” said 4th Street owner Russ Cowan.

RELATED:Trump poised for East Coast primary wins in test of reorganized team

“We usually see, on Election Day, a lot of City Councilpeople come through, and we did not see them. We could definitely tell who was missing, and a lot of people we see on a regular basis were not there.”

Former District Attorney Lynne Abraham sat down for lunch with her law partner at Archer & Greiner. Media mogul and insurance executive George Norcross was there with public relations guru Dan Fee and former Daily News assistant editor Gar Joseph, and Democratic winner for U.S. Senate Katie McGinty stopped by later as well.

But despite the low turnout,that didn’t stop those running and those not running for office from weighing in on the issues this election cycle.

“For the last two months, I’ve felt it building and growing and felt very fortunate,” McGinty said of her campaign against Republican Pat Toomey. McGinty once served as chief of staff to Gov. Tom Wolf.

“Pat Toomey can run but he cannot hide. It’s about a record that has disserved families – and I’d say businesses – in Pennsylvania. When you’re out there pushing to take Social Security away … he’s even now trying to take away Medicaid. … These are the tools that Pennsylvania families need and Pat Toomey just has not been a friend to working families to the middle class in Pennsylvania.”

Asked what she thinks of Toomey’s relationship withDonald Trump, McGinty said the following.

“Pat Toomey, unfortunately, has been very clear that he stands with the nominee and stands side-by-side with Donald Trump. … Pat Toomey has refused to denounce the really divisive and hateful speech we’ve heard from Donald Trump. I think it’s a Trump-Toomey ticket – one that will be very hurtful to the people of Pennsylvania.”

RELATED:Ready, set, vote: Primary day is here

Abraham called the Ted Cruz and John Kasich recent alliance against Trump a “bad team.”

“It’s poorly planned, poorly executed, a big mistake,” she said.

“I can’t understand it. I don’t appreciate it. I don’t get it. I can’t speak for presidential politics, which have always been ugly, and you can go back to Adams and Jefferson, one of the nastiest elections ever, but I can tell you that I can’t see the alliance between Kasich and Cruz – it just is too bizarre.”