Kenyatta Johnson and Curtis Jones Jr. are front-runners in the Philly Council president race

Hours after City Council adjourned its last session before taking its summer break, many of the lawmakers gathered in a private basement room at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse.

The purpose of the event three weeks ago was to toast outgoing Council President Darrell L. Clarke, who is not running for reelection and had just overseen the passage of the final budget of his four-decade City Hall career.

But for the host, Majority Leader Curtis Jones Jr., the event also served another purpose: to burnish his chances of succeeding Clarke as the chamber’s leader.

Council will be remarkably inexperienced next year, and the three lawmakers seen as contenders for the presidency — Jones, Kenyatta Johnson, and Mark Squilla — are among the handful of members who have served more than one term.

Johnson and Jones are currently seen as the front-runners, according to conversations with more than a dozen City Hall sources. But neither has secured the support of a majority of their colleagues, and if they fail to reach that mark, many see Squilla as a compromise candidate. It’s also possible that third-term member Cindy Bass will make a run or that a dark horse candidate emerges from Council’s more inexperienced members.

» READ MORE: Meet the candidates running for Philadelphia City Council president

The race could drag on for months and may not be decided until December. While the occupants of almost all of Council’s 17 seats were effectively determined by last month’s Democratic primary, as many as three seats will be decided by the November general election, potentially changing the math for the candidates to secure the nine votes they need.

(The seats still up for grabs include two at-large seats reserved for members of minority parties, and the 10th District seat, where Republican Councilmember Brian O’Neill faces a tough challenge from Democrat Gary Massino.)

» READ MORE: Darrell L. Clarke’s retirement ends four decades of Philadelphia City Council leadership. Here’s why it matters and what happens next.

Although the candidates have some differences in policy positions, the race is not viewed as an ideological showdown. The leading contenders are all seen as centrist Democrats — similar to their former colleague and Democratic mayoral nominee Cherelle Parker, who is favored to win the general election.

“In such a small legislative body, leadership elections are decided by the interpersonal relationships that have been built in the preceding months and years,” City Hall lobbyist John Hawkins said. “Each contender has their own niche — Jones is the senior statesman, Squilla is laid-back yet working all night and day, and Johnson is the one who will roll up his sleeves and do the hard work with his colleagues to get things done.”

There are several key variables in the race, including the November elections and the role of politically powerful labor unions.

Leadership races are decided through private conversations between members and can sometimes even be kept secret from their staffs. Lawmakers generally frown upon outside groups exerting public pressure, but they play a role nonetheless. Several powerful labor unions, for instance, appear to be favoring Johnson over Jones, but none have taken public stances.

One factor that appears to not be playing a major role in the race is Johnson’s high-profile legal troubles. He and his wife, Dawn Chavous, were acquitted last year on corruption charges after federal prosecutors accused him of accepting a bribe in the form of a consulting job for Chavous. A first trial months earlier ended with a deadlocked jury.

Johnson maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings, and he enjoyed support from his colleagues, with several members attending prayer vigils to support him. He got a hero’s welcome at the first Council meeting after his exoneration.

“I returned to City Council with a standing ovation, so I don’t believe it’s going to play a factor in this race based upon me talking to members,” Johnson said. “This is America. I was acquitted by our own judicial system.”

During the last open Council president’s race in 2012, when Clarke defeated Marian Tasco, the body was defined by clearly identifiable factions.

Then-Mayor Michael A. Nutter backed Tasco. Clarke was the protégé of John F. Street, the former Council president and mayor who clashed repeatedly with Nutter and Tasco.

Clarke has worked to build a culture of independence for individual Council members and consensus on major policy issues. That means this year’s candidates have to win the support of colleagues one by one rather than put together blocs of lawmakers.

The leading candidates are echoing hallmarks of Clarke’s tenure. Squilla, for instance, noted that he is already one of Council’s key consensus-builders.

“I do that now currently to try to get to nine and understanding certain people may not be able to support things other people can and not put people in bad positions based on where they stand,” Squilla said.

Johnson said he has his own style but would seek to continue aspects of Clarke’s approach.

“It’s about empowering and supporting my members that they advocate for their own policy ideas, but also it’s working collectively as a body to move the city of Philadelphia forward,” Johnson said in an interview.

Jones, who previously led the Minority Business Enterprise Council and the Philadelphia Commercial Development Corp., said the president is essentially the CEO of Council.

“What the next president needs to be is a good orchestra conductor so that public policy music can be heard by all,” said Jones.

Jones is known for his colorful and long-winded speeches. The Council president, however, traditionally does not make speeches during session.

“The number 1 reason why my colleagues should vote for me is that they won’t have to listen to my speeches from the majority anymore,” Jones said.

Unlike Nutter in 2012, Parker is not expected to become heavily involved in the Council president’s race.

Picking a candidate who ends up losing could jeopardize her priorities before she unveils them. And as a former Council majority leader, Parker has worked closely with all of the candidates.

She also appears to have conflicting incentives in choosing between Jones and Johnson. On the one hand, Johnson is the only candidate who did not endorse her mayoral campaign. On the other, he is said to have quiet backing from the building trades unions, the most important backers of her candidacy.

Johnson, who did not make an endorsement for mayor, said he is confident he would work well with Parker.

“Me not endorsing her is not a reflection of my confidence in her ability of moving the city forward,” he said.

Parker has so far declined to comment on political and personnel questions, saying she is not taking for granted her general election race against Republican David Oh, another former Council member.

But thanks to Philadelphia’s overwhelmingly Democratic electorate, she is all but guaranteed to take office in January, when she and the new Council president will commence a new era in Philly politics.

While all of the candidates are pro-labor, Johnson appears to have an edge in getting union support.

He has for years helped the Service Employees International Union fight for contracted airport workers. And he has worked to ensure unions in the Building and Construction Trades Council get projects in his district, which includes Southwest Philadelphia and the western half of South Philly.

Squilla is also close with the building trades, and his brother is a carpenters union leader.

By contrast, Jones has on occasion been more friendly to contractors that use nonunion labor, especially minority-owned firms, in his district, which stretches across the Schuylkill from Roxborough to Overbrook.

Ryan Boyer, who leads the Laborers District Council and the trades council, said the construction unions would work with any of the contenders.

“I don’t have a dog in the fight,” he said.

But he acknowledged that his unions have worked more closely with Johnson and Squilla.

“Kenyatta and Squilla have had a better relationship than we’ve had with Curtis, so we’d have to educate him on some of those issues, but it doesn’t disqualify Curtis,” Boyer said. “Curt and I personally have always been good.”

Like Jones, Johnson is visibly courting members. A former state legislator, Johnson last week took a group of new and incoming lawmakers on a trip to Harrisburg.

Newer members have so far been reluctant to take sides as they settle into their roles, providing a level of unpredictability that Squilla said is likely to prevent the race from being settled for months.

“Everybody is at wait-and-see,” Squilla said. “At this time, I don’t see anybody having an open track to the presidency.”