Which name rings a louder bell: Terrill Haigler or @YaFavTrashman?
Trick question: They're the same guy.
Haigler is a former Philadelphia sanitation worker-turned-candidate for an at-large City Council seat. The social media handle is how he's better known among fans. And if Haigler has his way, Democratic voters in the May primary election would cast ballots for him as "Ya Fav Trashman" instead of his legal name.
Name recognition is everything in this crowded race, where Haigler is one of 30-plus candidates competing for seven at-large Council seats and vying for voters' attention, which can be difficult amid an also crowded mayoral contest. So it stands to reason that candidates want their names to be unmistakable on the ballot.
By law, Haigler can choose his name as he wants it to appear on the ballot when he submits his nominating petitions next month. Election officials and legal experts said candidates can generally use a nickname — or the name they're known by in their profession or community.
Haigler plans to argue that would include his Instagram handle, in what experts say could become a first-of-its-kind claim in Pennsylvania election history.
"It's not that I don't want people seeing Terrill (on the ballot)," said Haigler, who refers to himself as "Ya Fav Terrill Haigler" in his campaign literature. "It's the fact that for the past 2 1/2 years I've been personified and articulated to the entire world at 'Ya Fav Trashman.'"
Haigler gained a following during the coronavirus pandemic through his down-to-earth Instagram account, where he gained more than 30,000 followers as he chronicled his life as a sanitation worker for the Streets Department during the pandemic. He eventually leveraged his online reputation into activism, hosting cleanups and drawing attention to quality-of-life issues in one of the nation's most notoriously filthy big cities. The next stop, Haigler hopes, is City Hall.
But the question of whether he can run for office under an internet persona has intrigued local election experts.
"We have never seen somebody do this under a fictional but arguably bona fide pen name," said Kevin Greenberg, an election attorney who is representing other Democratic City Council candidates.
Plenty of candidates have used abbreviated names or nicknames instead of their birth names on the ballot — without much legal objection. Think Ed Rendell instead of Edward Rendell, or Larry Krasner instead of Lawrence Krasner. Mayor Jim Kenney also went by Jim on the ballot rather than his full first name, James.
In Pennsylvania, attorneys are often paid to file legal challenges against candidates' petitions. The tactic is often used by candidates or political parties to knock the competition off the ballot due to faulty signatures or other deficiencies in nomination paperwork.
The Philadelphia City Commissioners Office, which administers elections, said it would ensure Haigler's petition papers were aboveboard but said it would be up to other candidates to object to the legitimacy of "Ya Fav Trashman" and take the case to election court.
"Judges will decide that issue — not us," said Deputy City Commissioner Nick Custodio.
Adam Bonin, an election lawyer who represents Democratic candidates in other races on the ballot, said he anticipates an objection. Using a social media handle on the ballot could set a bad precedent by allowing a candidate to effectively sloganeer on the ballot, he argued, but he could also see a good-faith argument for allowing it.
"We don't want slogans on the ballot, we want names, and I don't think it's too much to ask of candidates to be known by their ordinary names," Bonin said. "But the counterargument is that you're actually making things harder for voters, and you're disenfranchising (Haigler) by not letting them vote for him under the name that they know him."
Could former Councilmember-turned-mayoral candidate Allan Domb have appeared on the ballot under his real estate sobriquet, "the Condo King"? Would television celebrity Mehmet Oz have succeeded in running for the Senate last under his better-known name, "Dr. Oz"?
Neither tried, and attorneys said case law is limited on the question.
Haigler's claim could spark a legal debate about what constitutes a professional name in the digital age, when social media handles have become indistinguishable from real names.
"That's how people professionally know me," Haigler said of "Ya Fav Trashman."
Election lawyers don't come cheap. Whether a Democratic rival wants to pony up the money for a challenge — and what another campaign would stand to gain from a challenge — remains to be seen.
For Haigler, the benefit is clear.
"You can add all the candidates together, but I probably have a bigger Instagram following than all of them," he said. "A name brings a certain level of excitement. People know me from my cleanups."
