Philly Dems made good on threats to oust people who backed the Working Families Party. But only some of them.

Philly’s Democratic Party last month informed some committeepeople that they are being removed from their positions for supporting non-Democrats in last year’s City Council at-large race, a violation of party bylaws.

On the surface, the move appears to be a simple case of party chairman Bob Brady making good on his threats to oust Democratic ward leaders and committeepeople who backed candidates from the progressive Working Families Party.

But there may be more to the story.

Brady has said that the task of ousting committeepeople, who are the party’s frontline representatives in their neighborhoods, is driven by the Democratic leaders of each of the city’s 66 wards, and that process has led to some selective enforcement.

More than 100 committeepeople signed a letter endorsing the Working Families candidates last year, but only about 20 committeepeople appear to have been targeted for removal, progressive organizers said. Of those, at least 11 are in Mount Airy’s 22nd Ward, which is led by longtime Councilmember Cindy Bass, while the rest are scattered across other wards.

Some in Bass’ ward believe they are being targeted for backing her Democratic primary opponent last year. And at least one, Polly Weiss, said she has never endorsed a non-Democrat. But she has clashed with Bass, and she did support Seth Anderson-Oberman, who unsuccessfully challenged Bass in last year’s primary. (Endorsing Anderson-Oberman would not violate party rules because he ran as a Democrat.)

“I never went on record to endorse anyone” in the at-large Council race, said Weiss, a school counselor. “I was targeted by association, but also [Bass] knows that we endorsed Seth Anderson-Oberman.”

Bass declined to say whether she recommended names of people in her ward for the party to crack down on. But she said she has no problem with the committeepeople in her ward getting ousted.

“Folks were warned and warned, again and again, and I spoke to each and every person that there could be repercussions because Bob Brady made it so clear that this would not be tolerated,” Bass said. “I’m here for Democrats. Now if anybody else wants to do something else, Brady made it clear to them that they’re going to have a problem from him.”

Brady, a former congressman who has chaired the city party since 1986, did not respond to a request for comment.

Committeepeople, who are elected by neighbors in their voting precincts, are the foot soldiers of the Democratic Party, responsible for turning out the vote in their areas. Ward leaders, who are elected by their committeepeople to four-year terms, traditionally control which candidates their wards endorse and coordinate with the city party.

Bass has been at loggerheads with a group of progressive committeepeople who have formed an “open caucus” within her ward, including Weiss and Nate Holt, who also received a letter informing him he’ll be ousted.

“She mostly targeted members of the 22nd Ward open caucus,” said Holt, the campaign finance director for State Rep. Chris Rabb (D., Phila.), an anti-establishment progressive. “She’s been trying to get rid of us for a while, so it is likely that this is the play here.”

Holt said he knows of 11 committeepeople from the 22nd Ward, including him and Weiss, who received the letter. Holt plans to appeal his ouster.

“I don’t recognize the validity of this removal letter,” he said. “I was elected democratically by voters, my neighbors, in a public election. I am accountable to them, not Bob Brady, or his twisted priorities in violation of the party’s own by-laws.”

Holt was one of the more than 100 Democratic committeepeople across the city who signed a letter endorsing Working Families candidates Kendra Brooks’ and Nicolas O’Rourke’s successful campaigns in the Council at-large race. Weiss, however, did not. And many who did sign the letter have not been expelled from the party.

» READ MORE: Bob Brady’s final warning to progressives backing Working Families Party candidates

The dispute over Democrats endorsing Working Families candidates stems from the unusual composition of Council, which includes 10 members who represent geographic districts, like Bass’ 8th District, and seven at-large members who are elected citywide.

Two of those at-large seats are effectively set aside by city law for members of minority parties or independents. Republicans held them for almost 70 years before Brooks in 2019 won one of them. O’Rourke took the other in last year’s election, leaving Council with only one Republican, the 10th District’s Brian O’Neill.

Many progressive Democrats worked to boost Brooks and O’Rourke. But the more moderate Democratic establishment pushed back, saying it was a violation of the party rules to endorse the third-party candidates because doing so would indirectly encourage voters to pass over Democrats on the ballot.

Ward leaders seeking to oust committeepeople have two options for delivering the news: Tell them directly, or have the party’s Committee on Organization send them letters. The 22nd Ward committeepeople received letters.

“It has come to our attention that in the 2023 General Election you actively supported the candidacies of non-Democrats running for office, specifically candidates running for City Council at Large,” the letter said. “We are writing to let you know that we are removing you as a committeeperson from the 22nd Ward.”

Weiss noted she has been elected to multiple four-year terms by her Democratic neighbors, and said she was dismayed Bass was working to oust committeepeople in one of the highest-turnout areas of the city when she should be focused on recruiting and retaining volunteers for this year’s presidential election.

“We’ve been reelected. People trust us. They know who we are,” Weiss said. “And for her to do this this year, when there’s so much at stake, is just profoundly stupid. It’s really shortsighted.”