Joe Biden is raising money for Rep. Bob Brady … for a 2022 Senate run? | Clout

If local Democrats were hoping for a break from politics after Tuesday's midterm election, Clout can assure you a respite is coming. For exactly one week.

Former Vice President Joe Biden comes to Philly on Nov. 13 to raise money for U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, chairman of the city's Democratic Party.

After 20 years in Congress, Brady is not seeking reelection this fall, and, as we reported last month, he hasn't donated this year to fellow Democrats in the country's closest races.

But Brady has debts to pay. And … higher office to seek?

The Biden event will raise cash for Brady's new federal political action committee, Friends of Bob Brady, launched in March, which has already brought in $61,550.

The PAC Brady previously used to seek reelection, Bob Brady for Congress, reported $256,885 in debt to two law firms as of Sept. 30. Brady spent much of last year under federal investigation, but was never charged.

Brady also still carries $663,390 in debt, mostly to three law firms, for the PAC he used in 2007 to run unsuccessfully for mayor, according to a January campaign finance report.

Brady said he didn't want to collect money under false pretenses, as he's no longer a House candidate. And, he added, he might someday run for the Senate.

"Don't laugh," Brady said. "People don't like [Sen.] Pat Toomey. People are bugging me to run."

Toomey, a Lehigh County Republican, is up for reelection in 2022.

Brady also said he hopes Biden, a friend of 30 years, runs for president. So far, Biden is mum on that.

"I'll be with him every step of the way," Brady said.

Patty-Pat Kozlowski, a Republican running for state representative in Philadelphia, told her Facebook followers about a potential Halloween "prank" this week.

She said a zoning notice had been discovered in the river wards alerting residents of a plan to open a supervised injection site in their neighborhood.

But it didn't look right, she said: No lawyer's or owner's name was listed on the document.

"This seems to be a sick prank to scare the people of Port Richmond," said Kozlowski. "EITHER WAY, we're going to get to the bottom of this."

A day later, she posted on Facebook that it was phony: "THIS WAS FAKE AND FRAUDULENT."

Supervised injection sites, where addicts can inject drugs under medical supervision, are a highly controversial issue in the competitive race to replace State Rep. John Taylor in the 177th District.

Karen Guss, a spokeswoman for the Department of Licenses and Inspections, confirmed the falsity of the notice.

As a candidate running for public office, Clout wondered, why didn't Kozlowski wait until she, well, got to the bottom of the zoning notice's veracity before posting?

"What news did I spread that was not true?" she replied, adding that she told community members that public records showed it was not legit.

Also this week, Kozlowski touted union endorsements that the labor groups said she did not receive. At least one blames itself for the confusion, though.

Kozlowski's campaign ran an ad in the Northeast Times promoting nods from the KML Regional Council of Carpenters and Laborers' District Council of the Metropolitan Area of Philadelphia and Vicinity.

But Laborers' District Council business manager Ryan Boyer and Mungu Sanchez, deputy political director of the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters, both said their organizations did not formally endorse anyone in the 177th District race.

Asked about the discrepancy, Kozlowski said, "Beats the s– out of me why they said there is no endorsement or support."

She said the two unions cut checks to her, and told her they were backing her.

"Patty-Pat wasn't lying or being deceptive when she touted our endorsement," said Boyer. "Miscommunication on my part is to blame. We gave her a check because of our belief that both candidates are good on issues that affect working families."

The Laborers and Carpenters also donated to her Democratic opponent, Joe Hohenstein, according to Boyer and documents provided by the campaign.

Nearly seven months ago, Paul Mango's campaign commercial detonated on Pennsylvania televisions in the Republican primary for governor, calling former State Sen. Scott Wagner a "deadbeat dad" and teasing a sequel that would expose him as violent.

Wagner branded it a "false attack." The state GOP demanded that Mango stop.

Mango didn't back down, but he didn't use the follow-up commercial, which might have seemed prescient, given the backlash Wagner, now the Republican nominee, faced after threatening to "stomp all over" Democratic Gov. Wolf's face with golf cleats.

So whatever happened to the second installment? As luck has it, someone sent it to Clout this week along with a third ad Mango's campaign prepared but did not air.

One ad calls Wagner "insulting, violent, unhinged." It shows video of Wagner in a physical altercation with a campaign tracker in May. And it notes that Wagner was the subject of a protection-from-abuse order in 2006. It was filed by Wagner's daughter, though the ad doesn't say that.

The other shows two women texting concerns about Wagner to each other, with one suggesting he is "Violent! Anti-women!" Again, the tracker video. And again, the restraining order.

It was no secret Mango's strategy was to show differences in temperament between the two men. Mango, who now works for President Trump's administration, did not respond to requests for comment.

Wagner won the Republican primary with 44 percent of the vote, while Mango took 37 percent.

He has won elections before despite similar attacks. An opponent used the PFA in 2014 when Wagner was running for state Senate in York County.

"The strategy of using false, negative attack ads to paint Scott as violent backfired in 2014, backfired in the primary and will backfire on Election Day," Wagner spokesman Andrew Romeo said Thursday.