What you need to know about the city controller and the three Philly Democrats running for the office

The city controller is Philadelphia’s fiscal watchdog and chief auditor.

But what exactly does the controller do?

Three candidates — Christy Brady, Alexandra Hunt, and John Thomas — are running in the May 16 Democratic primary, and the winner is likely to become the next city controller given the deep-blue leaning of city voters. Here’s what you need to know about them and the office they’re vying to lead.

As an independent government official, the controller is responsible for evaluating the finances and practices of city departments and the school district. The controller’s office helps investigate:

Under former Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, who resigned last year to run for mayor, the office’s work included exposing the Philadelphia Police Department’s controversial Heart and Lung benefits for shoddy record keeping and inadequate accountability, evaluating the city’s antiviolence spending, and releasing a dashboard tracking the School District of Philadelphia’s asbestos abatement projects.

» READ MORE: Your no-nonsense guide to the May 2023 Democratic primary for mayor, Council, and row offices

There are four divisions of the controller’s office: The pre-audit division analyzes a department’s spending before it happens to make sure the city’s bid process is running as it should; the audit division examines each city department and the School District; the investigation unit responds to tips to suss out fraud, waste, and corruption; and the finance, policy, and data division compares city policy with best practices.

The controller also serves in several leadership roles, including holding positions on:

Christy Brady became the first woman appointed deputy controller in 2017, under then-controller Alan Butkovitz.

“I didn’t appoint Christy because she’s a woman,” Butkovitz said at the time. “I did it because she’s the most qualified for the job.”

Brady, 50, became acting controller in November when Rhynhart resigned. She was an establishment favorite even before she resigned to run for the position, and has earned the backing of the Democratic City Committee and the Building Trades Council.

Brady graduated from Philadelphia University with a degree in accounting, and began working at the controller’s office 28 years ago as an entry-level employee.

“I could never have imagined on that day that I would be standing here in front of you and announcing my candidacy for city controller,” Brady said at her campaign announcement event in February.

Brady outlined five main priorities: public safety, the city’s drug epidemic, education, tax collection improvement, and what she called “an illegal worker and unscrupulous contractor problem.”

Brady also highlighted the city’s growing wealth disparities and government accountability and said she’d keep an eye on the Department of Licenses and Inspections and its enforcement of building code violations and unlicensed construction workers.

Alexandra Hunt, 29, grew up in Rochester, N.Y., and settled in Philadelphia after earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Richmond.

She also earned master’s degrees in health science and public health from Drexel and Temple, respectively. Hunt’s public health-oriented career aspirations — she wanted to become a doctor — are what first sparked her interest in running for office.

She decided to run for office while volunteering during the pandemic and seeing people waiting in a long line for free food. “It was a systemic failure,” she said.

Hunt unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Phila.) in 2020. Despite her loss, she pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars and earned a nationwide following.

“I decided to continue to keep fighting to keep the momentum of the movement that we had built for Congress,” she said of her run for controller. Hunt believes that, if she wins, she “can really directly start making changes.”

Hunt’s campaign made headlines for her work as an exotic dancer while in college. She said she felt compelled to disclose her past job because “I was concerned somebody [would] see my face and be like, ‘Oh, I remember her from a very different setting.’”

Still, she continues to operate an Only Fans account and listed income from the website on her statement of financial interest. Hunt has also used other forms of social media in nontraditional ways, such as recruiting volunteers on Bumble, a dating app.

Hunt has been supported by Progressive Victory, an Internet-based political volunteer group.

John Thomas said his small-town Southern upbringing sparked his interest in diversity and inclusion. Originally from Prattville, Ala., Thomas, 65, moved to Southwest Philadelphia at age 14.

Thomas went to West Chester University before graduating from Temple University with an accounting degree.

Like Brady, he’s been a longtime government employee. Thomas served as legislative assistant for former City Councilmember Marian Tasco.

Thomas also worked at the Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General and spent 10 years as a senior analyst for the Philadelphia Gas Commission before working as a deputy controller for 12 years.

While in the controller’s office, Thomas zeroed in on ensuring diverse contracting, investigating barriers that diverse and women-owned firms face in winning city contracts. He also led an investigation showing that prime contractors, who are mostly white, were falsely exaggerating their payments to diverse and women-owned firms.

Thomas also suspended a contractor who wasn’t honoring a diversity commitment, the “first time in history” a contractor was suspended for diversity noncompliance in Philadelphia, he said.

Thomas’ priorities include city financial transparency, diversity and inclusion in city contracting, making sure city services are delivered equitably, and investigating the financial feasibility of fixing school buildings.

“The controller’s office is a powerful bully pulpit,” he said.

Although he doesn’t have the official party support, Thomas has been endorsed by the Laborers’ District Council, State Rep. Stephen Kinsey, and Tasco.