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Brady endorses Williams for guv, vows to turn out vote for him

Bob Brady, left, and Anthony Williams, right, before Brady endorsed Williams in the Democratic primary for governor on Monday outside of Philadelphia City Hall.

PHILADELPHIA—Congressman Bob Brady (D-1) threw his political support behind Anthony Williams’ run for governor Monday, giving the state Senator’s campaign the backing of one of Philadelphia’s most powerful Democratic officials.

Brady, who is chairman of the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee, promised that the entire weight of the local party’s political machine would be behind Williams, going so far as to say that Williams should focus his campaign elsewhere. “We’ll take care of his back here,” Brady told pa2010.com.

The endorsement from Brady came as Williams has picked up considerable momentum five weeks before the four-way Democratic primary, quickly raising money from large donors, racking up support from elected officials and becoming the second candidate in the race to air TV ads. On Sunday night, he was also endorsed by state Senator Michael O’Pake (D-Berks). During an appearance outside City Hall here Monday morning, Brady called Williams the only candidate with the right experience to be the Keystone State’s next governor. He said local ward leaders would deliver a formal endorsement on behalf of the city party as soon as possible.

“Nobody knows how it works better than Senator Anthony Hardy Williams,” Brady said, “and nobody will be a better governor for the state of Pennsylvania and for the city of Philadelphia.”

In some ways, Brady’s support for Williams had been assumed even before the endorsement. Brady helped deliver a large number of votes for Williams during the Democratic State Committee endorsement meeting in February, and backing the local can help Brady maintain his own hold on political power in the city party. While some think that power is on the wane, Brady is undoubtedly still a potent force when it comes to making sure that ward leaders turn out of the vote and toe the line on who they support. Whether that will be enough to overcome what is sure to be a deluge of advertisements and a considerable field operation in the city for Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato remains to be seen.

But Brady sounded a confident tone.

“No one else has an organization like we do,” he said.

In endorsing Williams Sunday, O’Pake said Williams has the “skills and vision” to make life better for Pennsylvanians.

“For Democrats, Tony is our best shot at victory this fall,” O’Pake said in a statement. “He can take on and beat any Republican.”

Click here for audio of the entire news conference. See a video clip of Brady’s endorsement below.

April 12, 2010 at 10:57 am

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Anthony Williams, Bob Brady, Dan Onorato, PA-1

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