Ex-mayoral candidate Jeff Brown is endorsing Sajda ‘Purple’ Blackwell for state representative

Clout loves hearing from old friends. So it warmed our hearts Wednesday when we ran into Sajda “Purple” Blackwell, community journalist and candidate for state representative, at Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s address to the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia.

Not only did we get to say hello to Blackwell, but she also let us know that former mayoral hopeful Jeff Brown is apparently back in the Philly politics groove. Brown on Friday will be publicly endorsing Blackwell’s campaign against State Rep. Amen Brown (D., Phila.), she said.

“I support Sajda Blackwell for State Representative because I trust her common-sense approach and admire the way she lives her life in service to the community,” Jeff Brown said through a spokesperson.

» READ MORE: A rematch is brewing in Rep. Amen Brown’s West Philly district

We hadn’t heard much from Jeff Brown since his fifth-place finish in last year’s Democratic primary, which Parker won. (Not much, that is, outside of his legal battle with the Board of Ethics that stemmed from the mayor’s race.)

Blackwell, who is married to the grandson of the late U.S. Rep. Lucien Blackwell, said she got to know Jeff Brown, a longtime ShopRite proprietor known for his efforts to boost underserved communities, through his work distributing food in West Philly.

“He has helped to give away food to hundreds of West Philly neighbors,” she said. “He’s known me and my work in communities for some time. ... He definitely just wants to see better leadership.”

But Clout suspects the grocer had more than one motivation in endorsing her bid to unseat Amen Brown, who finished sixth in the mayor’s race.

Despite sharing a last name, the Browns did not hit it off on the campaign trail last year, to put it mildly. At one forum, Amen said Jeff’s stores in Black and brown Philadelphia neighborhoods were lower quality than those in the suburbs. Jeff suggested Amen’s nominating petitions to run for mayor were fraudulent. So, yeah.

Parker’s push to bring all city employees back to in-person work has generated some pushback, as she might have expected. But the mayor probably wasn’t expecting criticism to come from a city spokesperson.

Joy Huertas, who worked in former Mayor Jim Kenney’s press office and is now a spokesperson for the Rebuild program, outlined her concerns about the policy in a public post on LinkedIn this week.

“The city’s decision will have significant consequences, including hindering innovation, hurting recruitment and retention, and affecting women in leadership roles who may feel forced to choose between family and work,” Huertas wrote. “Additionally, families will feel the financial burden of rising daycare costs and decreased work-life balance.”

Huertas added that “those of us without public facing roles have excelled in our jobs for the past 3-4 years and have the data to back up our results.”

Huertas declined to comment on her post. Ditto for the mayor’s office.

» READ MORE: Mayor Parker’s social media crackdown ruffles feathers with librarians

At her chamber address Wednesday, Parker responded to city employees’ objections to the policy.

“I’m excited about it. I think it’s going to help to get Philadelphia’s economy jump-started and more importantly to enhance the quality of service that’s provided to the taxpayers,” Parker said. “I think it’s going to increase worker productivity immensely.”

It’s not the first time in Parker’s two-month tenure that city employees have questioned an administration policy. A handful of library branches three weeks ago staged a minor social media uprising against a policy that required city agencies to submit all draft social media posts and media requests to Parker’s office.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer has a familiar face working on his campaign for attorney general — until she goes to prison, that is.

Marita Crawford, the former political director for Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, has been spotted at several political and county committee events with Stollsteimer. She was sentenced last week to 15 days in prison and ordered to repay nearly $12,000 she stole from the union for personal use as part of the larger embezzlement case centered around former labor leader John J. Dougherty, known as “Johnny Doc.”

Crawford appears to be helping Stollsteimer lobby for endorsements as the crowded field of five Democrats try to get as much support as they can going into the April primary. Stollsteimer has been able to capture many of the key labor union endorsements thus far, including from the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, which Dougherty used to head, and the Allegheny/Fayette Central Labor Council.

Stollsteimer’s success with trade unions is unsurprising because he was the first DA in Pennsylvania to prosecute contractors for wage theft — something he’s promised to do if elected as the state’s top prosecutor. But having one of Doc’s top allies working on your campaign likely doesn’t hurt, either.

Stollsteimer’s campaign said the DA believes in second chances and defended Crawford in a statement, calling her a friend and “one of the most talented, effective Democratic strategists in all of Pennsylvania.”

”[Crawford] has taken responsibility for her actions and has been held accountable,” Ken Snyder, a spokesperson for Stollsteimer’s campaign. “Maybe other Democratic candidates would turn their backs on a friend who is trying to get her life back on track, but that ain’t Jack.”

Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this article.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated Sajda Blackwell’s relation to the late U.S. Rep. Lucien Blackwell.