Johnny Doc, out at Local 98, now wants to oust his hand-picked successor; Amen Brown’s ward fight

John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty declared Mark Lynch Jr. “the right choice at the right time” 18 months ago when Dougherty stepped down as business manager of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Lynch replaced him.

Now Dougherty is waging a campaign from the sidelines, trying to prevent Lynch from winning a full term in an election Saturday against two former Local 98 officials — Todd Neilson and Tim Browne.

What changed?

Well, Dougherty’s finances, for sure.

Dougherty ended three decades as leader of the state’s most politically powerful union after being convicted on federal bribery charges. And Dougherty, who has two more trials looming, was angered when Lynch didn’t take his side in a fight about Local 98′s insurance carrier paying for his continuing legal expenses.

And then there’s this: Two sources told Clout that Dougherty asked Local 98 in January 2022 for a $20,000-per-month consulting contract. The union said no. Things went south from there.

Dougherty called that “absolutely false” and insisted that Lynch asked him in 2022 to consult for the union, an offer he said he rejected.

Dougherty, in a meandering 48-minute “podcast” that circulated among Local 98 members this week, questioned Lynch’s maturity and intellect. As an example, Dougherty said Lynch’s “immaturity” kept him from asking Dougherty for information.

Dougherty said a few nice things about Browne but repeatedly leaned toward Neilson, the brother of State Rep. Ed Neilson, a former Local 98 political director. He praised Neilson for assembling a coalition ticket that includes Dougherty critics.

“I believe, if he was elected business manager, he would be able to right the wrongs and to move forward,” Dougherty said of Neilson in his recording. “By the way, he is not a yes-man. And, as it pertains to me, I want nothing. I’m gone.”

Lynch declined to comment on Dougherty’s recording and said he is confident about Saturday’s vote.

“Remember, a year and a half ago, I was the guy,” Lynch told Clout on Thursday. “My question is: Why am I not the guy now?”

Dougherty in February told Clout Lynch had acted “with vindictiveness” as Dougherty fought with Local 98′s insurance carrier. Lynch responded at the time, saying he was working to “put an end to the toxicity that has poisoned this union for far too long.”

Dougherty has rolled through defense attorneys while acknowledging in October that he was having trouble paying for their services.

His next trial, which may happen in the fall, deals with charges that he and other union officials embezzled more than $600,000 from Local 98.

Neilson, who was fired earlier this year as a Local 98 business agent, did not respond to a request for comment. His campaign website promises to “work together as we pick up the pieces of the shortcomings and continue in the successes of the past.”

Lynch fired Browne, Local 98′s vice president, shortly after taking over. Browne told Clout that Dougherty called him this week and said, “I made the biggest mistake of my life supporting Lynch.”

Browne has bombarded Local 98 members with a string of newsletters with headlines like “10 reasons not to vote for Mark Lynch.”

The business manager election will go to a June 24 runoff between the top two candidates if none of the three break 50% in the voting.

Lynch got a strong shout-out Thursday from Ryan Boyer, leader of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, who stood next to him and declared to Clout: “Mark Lynch will win because Mark Lynch should win.”

The Democratic primary is over, but trouble may still be brewing in West Philly’s 60th Ward.

State Rep. Amen Brown, the ward leader who finished a distant sixth in the nine-candidate race for mayor, was temporarily replaced by Democratic Party chair Bob Brady just before the primary for being “missing in action.”

Brady tapped Sajda “Purple” Blackwell to step in. Blackwell, a committee person in the ward, ran against Brown in his 2022 bid for a second term in the state House and lost.

Now she’s circulating a petition, along with Ward chair Lorraine White-Johnson, for a recall vote to remove Brown as ward leader at a meeting next Wednesday.

And Blackwell says Brown threatened Brady just after the primary, vowing to become a Republican if he lost his ward. That would flip the one-seat control of the state House to the GOP.

Brown and Brady say that never happened and suggest Blackwell is trying to make a move on Brown’s ward, and eventually his state House seat, after being granted a little authority from the party.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Brown told Clout. “I have a very tight relationship with Bob Brady. He’s not signing onto any of this buffoonery.”

Brady on Brown: “He’s fine. He’s still our guy.” Brady said he and Brown cleared the air after the primary. “We had a good talk,” he said. “It’s all good.”

Brown said he is circulating a petition of his own to oust Blackwell from her ward post.

Blackwell told Clout that Brown “forced” committee members to approve the 60th Ward endorsing him for mayor on sample ballots. In her brief tenure, the Democratic City Committee printed up new ballots for the ward, backing Cherelle Parker for mayor, the party’s not-so-secret favorite.

Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics.