The pol who makes winners

JOHN SABATINA, 61, is a rarity in Philadelphia politics - a career politician who has never won a general election.

Sabatina's only personal victories at the polls have been in Democratic primaries, in which his neighbors in Rhawnhurst elected him several times as a Democratic committeeman, more than 30 years ago.

But since 1980, committee people in the 56th Ward have picked Sabatina as their ward leader, again and again and again. That experience, combined with a long memory, familiarity with other ward leaders and sheer doggedness, have made Sabatina an unusual force in citywide politics.

His influence was never more clear than this year, when Sabatina served as a paid political consultant to seven candidates on the crowded Democratic primary ballot, and as an unpaid adviser to several more.

All but two of Sabatina's clients won citywide, and Sabatina collected $150,000 for his efforts.

He's now heir apparent to the late Henry J. "Buddy" Cianfrani - the legendary South Philadelphia pol who became a paid adviser to would-be judges after a federal corruption rap ended his career as a state senator.

Personally, Sabatina and Cian-frani could hardly be more different.

Cianfrani was bald and gravel-voiced, a World War II veteran, on speaking terms with everyone. He worked fellow pols with an insider's aplomb, touching elbows, making points with casual asides and friendly winks.

Sabatina is about 5 feet 6 inches tall, normally found in a conservative suit, necktie and wire-rim glasses, his graying hair neatly parted, a cell phone always within reach.

While soft-spoken, with a dry sense of humor, he's had epic battles over the years with the Democratic Party hierarchy.

"Sabatina is happy to be an outsider," says one fellow ward leader, who - like most of those interviewed for this story - asked not to be named to avoid damaging his political alliances. "He enjoys putting a stick in Bob Brady's eye."

The very idea of Sabatina as the new Buddy is offensive to some political figures who admired Cianfrani's rough-hewn charm and describe Sabatina as stubborn and demanding.

"I knew Buddy Cianfrani, and John Sabatina is no Buddy Cianfrani," said a former elected official who asked not to be named.

"A lot of what Buddy did, even when he was walking an edge - he had a certain panache, certain endearing qualities," the former official said. " . . . None of that exists with John. He's strictly business. He's morphed from being a ward leader in a traditional sense . . . to the role of judge-maker."

Another ward leader has a more positive take.

"Buddy was much more laid- back. He was just looking to make some money to go to the track, or bet on college basketball," the ward leader said. "For John, he has found his niche, what he was intended to do. He works at it 24/7, and he's better at it than Buddy was. . . . I'm not in love with John, but if I was running for judge, I'd hire him."

Sabatina himself says he has "stepped into the vacuum" left by Cianfrani - or, rather, been "sucked into it," by candidates who generally seek him out for his expertise.

"I have to say, it was very lucrative," Sabatina told the Daily News in a recent interview. "And . . . for 30 years, I was doing it for nothing. . . . No matter who you talk to, they're going to tell you I was worth it."

For fees from $10,000 to $35,000, Sabatina will take a candidate all over the city to introduce him or her to Democratic ward leaders.

Depending on whom he's talking to, Sabatina may emphasize the candidate's professional credentials, political alliances, or willingness to provide ward organizations with street money. Sometimes, it might be a trade: You carry my guy for Common Pleas Court, I'll carry yours for Council-at-large.

Whatever the pitch, Sabatina bargains one-on-one with each ward leader, trying to find spots for his clients on the ward's sample ballot.

"Needless to say, the candidates are able to pay the ward leaders who are putting them on the ballot," Sabatina said. "But I sort of broker it."

Considering his effectiveness, at least this year, Sabatina's services might be considered a bargain.

In citywide races for judge and other low-profile offices, the key to success is getting a candidate onto as many sample ballots as possible.

A candidate could spend $100,000 or more on advertising to boost his name recognition, with ample commissions to media buyers and fees for public-relations consultants.

But spending the same amount of money to get onto ward ballots will produce far more votes on Election Day, insiders say.

"I think it's necessary to have someone who really knows the ins and outs of city politics," said Common Pleas Judge Anne E. Lazarus, who paid Sabatina $20,000 to help her statewide campaign for a Superior Court nomination.

Lazarus fell 8,500 votes short of success, as the two Democratic nominations went to a lawyer and a judge in Allegheny County. But she carried Philadelphia by 38,820 votes over her nearest rival, Jimmy Lynn, who had the endorsement of the Democratic City Committee.

"If this had been a city race, I would have won," Lazarus said. "I give the credit . . . to Mr. Sabatina. He did a very admirable job."

Some candidates, especially for judge, find it distasteful or worse to be writing checks to ward leaders or their ward committees, while seeking their political support.

It can be uncomfortable for ward leaders, too.

"Some of the candidates are relentless," one ward leader told the Daily News.

"They keep coming and coming, trying to get you nailed down that you'll support them. . . . Usually, they're the ones pressing money on you, rather than vice versa."

Sabatina makes those transactions easier for both candidates and ward leaders, and his involvement provides "a level of enforceability" that a candidate never has independently, another ward leader said.

"Judicial candidates are babes in the woods, they really are, and they're ready for slaughter," the ward leader said. "If Linda Carpenter [the leading vote-getter among this year's judicial candidates] gives somebody $1,000, what's your incentive not to screw Linda Carpenter? I could take the $1,000 and take a walk."

But Sabatina's relationships with other ward leaders go back three decades. His colleagues know he'll recognize and remember any double-dealing.

"He is liked by some and respected by all," said one ward leader.

Sabatina grew up in Democratic politics, the son of 56th Ward leader Patrick Sabatina, who died in 1998 but officially retired from politics 30 years earlier, after backing the wrong candidate for mayor in 1967.

"In those days, instead of executing you, they gave you a job where you couldn't be politically active," Sabatina said. "[The late mayor James H. J.] Tate made my father a deputy commissioner of records."

John Sabatina became a committeeman about as soon as he could vote. In 1980 he won a heated battle for ward leader and he's controlled the vote-heavy ward ever since.

After completing the city's patronage trifecta - a series of jobs at the Redevelopment Authority, the Parking Authority and the Housing Authority (not to mention a couple of state agencies) - Sabatina finished Widener Law School at age 45 and now runs his own general practice, Sabatina & Associates, from an office on Castor Avenue.

Politics in the 56th Ward can resemble a contact sport.

Soon after becoming ward leader in 1980, in the middle of a nasty congressional primary, Sabatina found his car ruined after an apparent firebombing.

When Sabatina challenged City Councilman Rick Mariano in the 1999 Democratic primary, thugs broke windows at the homes of Sabatina's son and his ward chairman.

The Democratic City Committee briefly deposed Sabatina as ward leader after he backed Republican Sam Katz in the 1999 general election. (Sabatina claims he went with Katz only after the Democratic party treasurer, John Dougherty, refused to provide him with street money.)

But Sabatina's committee people stayed loyal to him, choosing Sabatina's wife, Lisa, to replace him as ward leader until Sabatina was allowed back in.

Eight years later, Dougherty and Sabatina have mended fences and become political allies. Sabatina gets legal work from the Redevelopment Authority, which Dougherty chairs, and Sabatina has supported several of Dougherty's judicial candidates, free of charge.

"I never felt I was betrayed by Dougherty [in 1999], because he was never my friend, he was the fighter on the other side," Sabatina told the Daily News. "When your own cornerman slips you something, that's when you get angry."

"You can't get along in this town without having associations. If someone is willing to work with you, you work with them."

Besides his 1999 run at Mariano, Sabatina ran for Council-at-large in 1983, and he has considered running for judge.

"It's come up, but I never had enough money to run," he said.

His older son, John Sabatina Jr., was elected to the state House last year, in a special election in which Northeast ward leaders, including Sabatina Sr., picked the Democratic candidate to succeed Alan Butkovitz, now the city controller.

Asked if his son's success had diminished any of his own appetite for public office, Sabatina did not miss a beat.

"Yeah," he replied. "I've taken the Joe Kennedy role. With a lot less money." *