At 49, Michael Nutter is not a simple character.
He is an African American with at least as much appeal to whites as to blacks, which makes him an unusual politician for Philadelphia.
He is a self-proclaimed reformer who has been a ward leader since 1990, making him both insider and outsider.
He is a charisma-challenged policy wonk with a nasal voice who still managed to entertain audiences throughout the city this spring with his dry wit.
"As mayor, I think he'd be very demanding," said Councilman Frank Rizzo. "He can sit you down and figure you out real quick. He'd have a lot of top-rate people around him."
Born in West Philadelphia to parents who stressed education and good diction, Nutter began to find himself as a teenager when he went to the Prep on scholarship.
His next stop was the University of Pennsylvania. He failed in his quest to become a doctor - "and the world is a safer place" for it, he says - but left with a business degree from the Wharton School.
He put that degree to use during the 1980s, working with a public-finance firm. But politics quickly became his passion.
Nutter entered the public arena as a protege of John Anderson, a city councilman who had much the same reformist appeal Nutter does now.
When Anderson died, Nutter went to work for another councilman, Angel Ortiz, before setting his sights on his own seat.
After one failed attempt, he unseated incumbent Ann Land in 1991 in the racially and economically diverse Fourth Councilmanic District, which includes parts of North and West Philadelphia, Overbrook, Roxborough, Manayunk, East Falls, and Nutter's own Wynnefield.
Nutter, who is married and has two children, won easy reelection to three more terms. He built a reputation, particularly during recent years, as one of council's most independent and most accomplished members.
