Bob Brady Furious Over Working Families Party Endorsements

Philadelphia Democratic leader Bob Brady, who is upset that Philly Democrats are endorsing Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke of the Working Families Party (Getty Images)

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Bob Brady Furious Over Working Families Party Endorsements

Election Day is fast approaching in Philadelphia. And the race for City Council is shaping up to be quite the intriguing battle.

It’s possible that Republicans will wind up without any City Council at-large seats. There are seven at-large seats in total, and the city reserves two for members of any non-majority party. In other words, two of those seats have to go to people who aren’t Democrats.

Traditionally, those two seats have gone to Republicans. But Working Families Party member Kendra Brooks bucked that trend four years ago when she won one of those two seats. And now, Brooks and fellow Working Families Party member Nicolas O’Rourke could very well land both of those seats, kicking the GOP to the curb.

Well, on Monday, 101 Democratic ward committeepeople in Philadelphia signed an open letter endorsing Brooks and O’Rourke, arguing that the stakes are too high to let Republicans have any at-large seats on Council. Endorsing a candidate who’s a member of another party isn’t generally something that committeepeople are supposed to do. In fact, it’s reportedly against the rules of the local Democratic Party.

Of course, Republican leaders aren’t thrilled with these Working Families Party endorsements. They want to hold onto the faint whiff of power they have left in this town. But one other person who isn’t happy with this action is none other than Philadelphia Democratic Party chair Bob Brady, who unfortunately still has a say in what happens in this city. Brady previously threatened to excommunicate any committeepeople who go outside their own party with endorsements. And now he’s doing just that. Billy Penn/WHYY has the full story.

It’s worth noting that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has separately endorsed Kendra Brooks. Fortunately, Brady can’t expel a sitting governor. After 37 years in charge of the Philadelphia Democratic Party, maybe it’s time to expel Brady.

A SEPTA Strike?

Halloween is always a little bit scary. But nothing could be scarier about this particular Halloween in Philadelphia than the fact that it’s the deadline for SEPTA and its largest union to finally hammer out a deal, something that has been eluding the two sides since July. The union wants higher wages and more benefits for its members, of course. But union reps also say SEPTA hasn’t been doing enough to combat “the raping, the assaults, the robberies, the maliciousness” taking place on SEPTA vehicles.

The most recent SEPTA strike happened in 2016 and resulted in six days of a Philadelphia without the El, the Broad Street Subway, buses, and some other services. Most SEPTA strikes last just a week or two, though “just” might be the wrong word to use, considering how disruptive a SEPTA strike can be. The longest SEPTA strike was way back in 1977. Then-mayor Frank Rizzo wouldn’t budge. And in true Frank Rizzo form, he had this to say: “It can last 10 years, as far as I’m concerned.” It lasted 44 days.

Things like this make me love Frank just a little bit.

About Those “Contingency” Phillies World Series Tickets

Yesterday, I told you about the hot market for “contingency” Phillies World Series tickets — that is, tickets being sold through sites like StubHub for potential Phillies World Series games, the idea being that you get a full refund if said game doesn’t happen. Last night, that market got all tossed and turned, because the Rangers defeated the Astros for the American League Championship, which means the Phils wouldn’t have home-field advantage should we advance to the World Series. (C’mon, team!) And that means that any contingency tickets sold for what could have been Game 1 of the World Series at Citizens Bank Park now aren’t good for much of anything.

As of Tuesday morning, people were offering plenty of contingency tickets on StubHub and elsewhere for the new lineup of potential Phillies World Series games at the South Philly ballpark. Should everything go according to plan in Game 7 tonight, those home games against the Rangers would be Games 3, 4 and (potentially) 5, next Monday, Tuesday (yes, Halloween) and Wednesday, respectively. You’re looking at a minimum of $900 for tickets to Games 3 and 4 and $1,300 for Game 5. Go Phils!

Local Talent

Congrats to all the Philly chefs and restaurateurs who landed in the New York Times list of “The 25 Best Restaurants in Philadelphia Right Now.” Nice to see that the list includes Mish Mish, which is owned by former Philly Mag food editor Alex Tewfik. Naturally, cranky ol’ Michael Klein at the Inquirer had some opinions on all this and just came off sounding bitter.

By the Numbers

100,000: Doors that canvassers from the Philly Counts team expect to knock on in an effort to educate residents in community “hot spots” about drug overdoses. They’ll be handing out Narcan and providing other resources.

4: Philadelphia men now charged in that April dime heist in Northeast Philly. The feds say the men stole $234,500 in dimes, along with frozen crab legs and beer. This somehow feels like it could easily be turned into a movie.

And from the Thomson-Is-Toast Sports Desk …

Aaron Nola woke up CBP last night (as if it needed it) with three K’s in the first, and Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper both walked to lead things off for us, but that was the Game 6 highlight. Arizona scored two in the second on back-to-back homers by Tommy Pham and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and the whole city caught its breath. Evan Longoria then doubled Thomas in, and the bullpen got going before Nola got the last two outs. Sheesh.

Did we storm back in the second? Well, J.T. Realmuto led off with a double, Nick Castellanos struck out looking, Brandon Marsh singled J.T. home, and Marsh bulled his way to second on a crappy throw. That got the crowd going again. Johan Rojas grounded out to bring up Schwarbs, who walked again, and Trea, who — nay, a K.

In the fifth, Corbin knocked a one-out single, and Marte scored him on a triple up the right-field line. That was it for Nola; in came Michael Lorenzen. Yikes. But he got the job done. In our half … nada. In the sixth, more nada. Orion Kerkering came in for the seventh; Perdomo singled and stole second, bringing up Marte, who scored Perdomo on a single: 5-1. What a waste of a game. I’m embarrassed these guys came to see it.

Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Fletcher Cox, AJ Brown, Dallas Goedert here tonight hoping for a Phillies comeback

Fletcher told me he wanted to celebrate with the Phillies again tonight pic.twitter.com/hLqKIDPxzE

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) October 23, 2023

Marsh singled to start the seventh — would the giant finally waken? Rojas popped up — and Craig Kimbrel got up in our bullpen, to the fans’ dismay. Schwarber reached on a fielder’s choice, then got thrown out when he tried to advance on an Andrew Saalfrank wild pitch. In the eighth, something — finally — to cheer for: a sterling Rojas catch.

At least #Phillies rookie Johan Rojas made a good catch today #RedOctober
pic.twitter.com/vTLiGUnhsV

— Philly Sports (@PhillyGameDay) October 23, 2023

The crowd was openly booing Kimbrel, but he struck out Gurriel, walked Thomas (who stole second), and got Longoria swinging. Let him live, I guess. Against Kevin Ginkel in the eighth, another hit by Bohm and three fly-outs. At least Gregory Soto came in for the ninth. Ha-ha-ha! A Perdomo bunt turned into a double when Soto blew the throw. In our ninth, against Paul Sewald, J.T. flew out, and Castellanos and Marsh struck out. Welcome to hell. Game 7 starts at 8:07 tonight — the first playoff Game 7 in Phillies history.

All Philly Today sports coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.