Philly mayoral hopeful Amen Brown and the smoke-filled room

NEW YORK — Amen Brown packed a smoke-filled room Friday evening with vestiges of wealth and power, past and present, as his plans to run for mayor in Philadelphia became clear.

The West Philadelphia state representative’ candidacy, expected to be announced Thursday, was made public by a deep-pocketed supporter, New York real estate developer Marty Burger. Brown’s event was part of Pennsylvania Society, the annual gathering in Manhattan of the state’s political class.

Three sources who have heard Burger’s pitch for Brown said he has vowed to launch a super PAC seeded with up to $5 million.

Burger, speaking in a posh cigar club to a crowd puffing on sizable stogies, described meeting Brown at a project his firm is developing in West Philadelphia. Brown later secured $2 million in state funding for the project.

“Amen has accomplished so much for his community, but now Amen needs to expand his community,” Burger said, standing next to Brown. “I’m so proud he’s allowing me to tell you about this tonight — ladies and gentlemen, Amen Brown will be running for mayor.”

» READ MORE: Who's running for Philadelphia mayor in 2023?

Brown, a Democrat who has angered some in his party, in part for supporting a return to mandatory minimum sentencing for some criminal convictions, was joined by some interesting and colorful supporters.

That included former State Sen. Vince Fumo, a Democrat, and former State House Speaker John Perzel, a Republican — two Philadelphia politicians who served prison time for corruption charges. Val DiGiorgio, a former chair of the state Republican Party, was also there, along with George Bochetto, a Republican who ran for U.S. Senate this year and will serve next month as an attorney for House Republicans in a Senate trial for the impeachment of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.

“Amen Brown will be our next mayor,” Bochetto declared later. “And I’m 1,000% behind him.”

Brown clearly reveled in the attention and the chance to tell his story about a rise from poverty to that smoke-filled room.

“I stand before you today, not only as your PA state representative but as a survivor of gun violence, a formerly imprisoned person, one of seven children whose mother was heavily addicted to drugs, whose father was incarcerated when I was 2 years old, and a person that didn’t know where my next meal was coming from,” Brown said.