Amen Brown had to fight to stay on the ballot for mayor. Will a super PAC come to his rescue?

The 11 Democrats running for mayor of Philadelphia — and the super PACs supporting at least three of them — will report on Tuesday how much money they have raised and spent this year.

Will that be a big day for Amen Brown? Or a total bust?

The state representative from West Philly was feted four months ago by an adoring crowd in a posh New York cigar bar, amid chatter that a super PAC would back him with $5 million in seed money.

Marty Burger, the New York real estate developer so enamored that he prematurely announced Brown’s candidacy for mayor during that party, was expected to play a role. So far, that super PAC has not materialized.

Burger was cryptic when Clout asked about that Thursday.

“I really can’t talk about that,” Burger said. “But stay tuned.”

The primary is just a month and a half away.

“I can’t talk about it,” Burger said. “But you’ll see something happen.”

Brown, who this week had to fight in court just to stay on the May 16 primary ballot, doesn’t have many answers either.

“I can’t confirm or deny if that was even real or not,” Brown said in an interview last week when The Inquirer’s Editorial Board asked if a super PAC will back him.

Super PACs can raise and spend well beyond the city’s campaign finance limits if they don’t coordinate with candidates or campaigns.

Three super PACs have already spent money to back grocery store operator Jeff Brown and former City Councilmembers Cherelle Parker and Helen Gym in the mayoral primary.

Brown previously had been eager for super PAC speculation. But pressed on the issue last week, he had little to offer.

“I’m not aware of any super PACs,” said Brown, who distantly trailed the other mayoral candidates when they reported on Jan. 31 how much money they raised in 2022. Brown reported bringing in just $3,500.

Brown drew a rebuke from a judge this week for problems with his candidate’s statement of financial interests, a problem he repeated from his bid last year for a second term in the state House. He has until Friday afternoon to revise that paperwork.

John Sabatina Sr., a longtime Democratic ward leader in Northeast Philly, has been a polarizing figure in city politics for years. That history appears to be following him into his primary bid to deny Register of Wills Tracey Gordon a second term.

Three of Sabatina’s fellow Northeast ward leaders — Tim Savage Jr., Pat Parkinson, and Jim Donnelly — circulated nomination petitions to help political novice Elizabeth Lowe get on the ballot in that race.

Petition season started on Feb. 14, eight days after the Democratic City Committee’s ward leaders voted to endorse Sabatina in the primary.

Lowe told Clout that Savage’s father, a senior federal court judge, is friends with her grandfather, founder of Triumph Missionary Baptist Church.

Nineteen committee people in Savage’s ward, including State Rep. Joe Hohenstein, pushed Lowe’s petitions. Hohenstein, who plans to endorse Lowe, said Sabatina is viewed as “coming in a little late” on the race after Lowe was an anticipated candidate.

Savage told Clout that Lowe first approached him about a run more than a year ago.

Did Sabatina’s history of Democratic infighting play a role in Savage’s support?

“No comment,” Savage said.

Parkinson said he holds no grudge against Sabatina. He just wants the Northeast, a vast swath of populous neighborhoods, to have someone in citywide office again.

“It’s time to put the pettiness of politics behind us and start thinking about the Northeast,” he said.

The 2001 Republican takeover of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, an audacious power grab, caused a political commotion in the city.

The Democratic return to control — sort of — Tuesday was by contrast so filled with comity and courtesy that the outgoing Republican chair, Beth Grossman, nominated her Democratic successor, Lynette Brown-Sow.

And the unanimous result was so clearly assured that the six-member board initially forgot to vote to confirm Brown-Sow.

Grossman, in an interview with Clout just before Tuesday’s meeting, said the role switch came about through “mutual discussions” about changes in the agency and political environment.

The PPA appointed a new executive director in November, and the Philadelphia delegation to the now Democratically controlled state House includes Speaker Joanna McClinton and Appropriations Committee chair Jordan Harris.

Brown-Sow, a business consultant and chair of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, has strong relationships in Harrisburg, Grossman said.

“I think this takes the authority to the next level and it’s good to take advantage of those relationships,” Grossman said.

The board remains evenly divided with three Democrats and three Republicans. Only the chair gets a regular salary, $75,000 per year.

Grossman, an attorney and the 2017 Republican nominee for district attorney, remains a board member. She called Brown-Sow “a powerhouse of energy and ideas” in her nomination.

Brown-Sow thanks Grossman for her “steadfast” leadership since becoming chair 18 months ago.

Former Speaker John Perzel, a Northeast Philly Republican, engineered the 2001 PPA takeover when he was majority leader in the House, creating a bastion of GOP-controlled patronage jobs in an overwhelmingly Democratic city that lasted more than two decades.

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