The Philadelphia Democratic City Committee has recently expelled its first committeeperson for endorsing candidates affiliated with the Working Families Party in the upcoming Philadelphia City Council elections. Local media anticipates that more such expulsions are likely to follow.
Earlier this month, Kate Rivera, a ward committeeperson in East Kensington, received notice of her removal from the position. She was informed that her support for Working Families Party candidates Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke ahead of the November city council election was the reason for her removal, as reported by the local Philadelphia news outlet Billy Penn at WHYY.
Rivera, however, stated that she doesn’t know why she was targeted other than her membership in a local area Democrats group that voted to endorse the two Working Families Party candidates.
“By the rules of the Democratic party, you are no longer a committee person in the 31st ward because of support for Working Families,” ward leader Peg Rzepski has been quoted as saying to Rivera in a voicemail message shared with Billy Penn at WHYY. “Thank you, and have a great life.”
The expulsion of Rivera appears to be the culmination of an earlier threat made by Philadelphia Democratic Party Chair and former Representative Bob Brady four years earlier, who similarly threatened to expel members who supported Brooks and O’Rourke in the 2019 election cycle.
Brooks and O’Rourke initially ran for the Philadelphia City Council in 2019. During that election, Brooks, who is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, left the Democratic Party to run on the Working Families Party ballot line, becoming the city’s first third party elected official in its modern history. Now, Brooks, who is seeking reelection, and O’Rourke are again running for office, this time against Republican opponents.
In response to the expulsion, the Working Families Party released a letter signed by 101 ward members of the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee expressing their support for Brooks and O’Rourke.
“Guided by our values and the trust our neighbors have placed in us, we are excited to re-elect Kendra Brooks to a second term on City Council and to elect Nicolas O’Rourke to serve alongside her,” the letter reads, “Voting for Kendra and Nic on November 7 will not jeopardize the election of any of the Democratic candidates for City Council. In fact, electing Kendra and Nic will give us two more champions for the Democratic values we care about.”
Readers of Independent Political Report can learn more about the overall situation and view the full article by Meir Rinde on the Billy Penn at WHYY website.
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