May 27, 1978: As He Wished, Fumo Loses Election

May 27, 1978: As He Wished, Fumo Loses Election
Former bureaucrat Vincent J. Fumo yesterday lost his special-election bid to succeed the jailed Buddy Cianfrani in the state senate—and in a subsequent interview, expressed a surprising degree of relief. “Even during the campaign, I was secretly kind of wishing I wouldn’t win,” said the 35-year-old, who is himself under federal indictment. “The more I thought about it, the less I really wanted to be a senator. As we saw with Buddy, all that power can really go to your head.”

The 35-year-old South Philadelphia native elaborated. “When you’re that high up in politics, there’s a temptation there,” he said with unusual candor. “I mean, I like boats, I like vacations—what’s to say that I wouldn’t…” he trailed off, laughing. “Well, anyway. But another thing: you can also treat people like shit when you become one of these fat-cat types. That’s something I’d never want to do.”

Pennsport Democrat Gary Burchielli, who won the election by nine percentage points, applauded his rival’s honesty. “Vince is right—you really can get yourself into trouble up in Harrisburg,” he admitted. “But for him to say that is pretty refreshing. Whatever he goes on to do, I think what we’ll remember about him is his character.” So what would Fumo do now, with his political career all but finished? “After I beat this indictment, I might return to private practice, but you never do know,” he said thoughtfully. “It’s funny, but I’ve always thought about running my own cleaning service. I have this weird thing for vacuum cleaners.”