Stephen Zappala, Allegheny County DA and Democratic candidate for Attorney General, is getting some help from a major Philly power broker.
John Dougherty, Business Manager of IBEW 98, has been making calls on behalf of Zappala. “Johnny Doc”, as he’s frequently called, is a big player in Philadelphia politics. His support was crucial to Mayor-Elect Jim Kenney and this year his brother even won a spot on the PA Supreme Court.
Therefore, Zappala’s 2016 campaign would almost certainly benefit from Dougherty’s backing.
PoliticsPA spoke with Steve Zappala’s campaign manager Marty Marks.
While Marks said that while Dougherty hasn’t made any formal endorsement, the labor leader head has been “very encouraging” towards Zappala and has reached out to others, telling them that he believes Zappala is a “strong candidate”.
Marks also pointed out that consultant Ken Snyder and pollster Anna Greenberg are working on the campaign. Snyder and Greenberg are two long-time Dougherty allies who worked for Jim Kenney this year.
Dougherty isn’t the only major Philadelphia politico to lend a hand (if not a specific endorsement) to the Allegheny resident. Congressman Bob Brady, who is also head of Philly’s Democratic Party, praised Zappala when he formally announced his campaign.
Considering Zappala’s biggest challenger in the Democratic primary will most likely be Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro, the SEPA support for the West PA native is intriguing to say the least.
Other candidates running for the 2016 Democratic nomination for Attorney General include Dave Fawcett, John Morganelli, and Jack Stollsteimer.
Loading ...
18 Responses
@phillypolitico-marks is a one trick pony. He has connections with unions so he identifies candidates that will get union support. He hooks on with them, takes $ from the candidate that comes from the unions and essentially brings nothing to the table. He is a complete unknown outside pittsburgh. In philly,there are 30 Marty Marks types willing to take $$ and add little to the campaign. Do you even know what he does? If so,please educate me and tell me one thing he brings to a campaign? Money? Endorsement? Message?
Dont castigate Democrats when the insane house GOP here just destroyed the budget again. Your party is the embarrassment of this state and this nation. You bring us closer to destruction every day and the fat cats pulling the strings laugh while they count their money at the expense of the idiots who voted their stewards into office. Say whta you will about doc, at least he represents a lot of hard working people. 15 years ago I was a moderate but today the typical republican candidate with my views would be branded a marxist. Take trump as your glorious leader and all the rest of the GOP flakes. You can have texas and succeed. Just leave us alone.
Great. With the mobs and unions infecting the Commonwealth thoroughly from both ends the Ds will take over everything. California, here we come. More like Detroit.
I am a supporter of Steve Zappala. Marks is a good campaign manager. The candidate’s dad supporting Dougherty’s brother for judge this year was a good deal for both families.
Delco. Observe this while you keep shilling. When the Zappala mob has no more use for you, they have no use for you. Don’t be so anxious to jump on their debris pile if you don’t know what is in it.
Kevin Dougherty was the highest vote getter statewide and was a close third in Allegheny County. In any event, Zappala is a good DA, will be the Dem nominee, and our next AG!
Marty Marks is the worst. He was fired from the Alice Dubow campaign last year and his role in the Donahue campaign was significantly cut for the General campaign to only working with Labor (which Marty is good at, I will give him that). So in the end, he had Wojcik last November and rode the wave to victory. Don’t forget that with Wodjik, he filed a bogus complaint against Todd Eagen with the Ethics Board.
And wasn’t that hard to win with Stack, $1 million bucks on TV and 53 shiny suits sealed that race.
Wait what?:
Is that the same Marty Marks who managed the winning statewide campaigns of Lt. Governor Stack, Justice-elect Donohue, Judge-elect Wojcik…? I’m not sure why you wouldn’t want to buy whatever he’s selling.
Tit for tat payback. Godfather Zap Senior endorsed Brother Doc for Supreme Court in Pgh market then pulled the ad when it was costing votes. Doc finished a distant 3rd but still won so Union Doc is holding his end up. Won’t matter. Joan Melvin proved that you can run on “cash for kids”, win and then get punished for playing politics on the job…like that is not done in Allegheny County.The Godfather’s pal Conahan is into his 3rd Xmas in prison and has 14 more years to X. Pgh. Mob boss Chuckie Porter,Sr., daddy of little rat Porter proved that you can snitch out of even a life sentence. Conahan can either be an 80 year old stand up comic…or he can take a lesson from his former pals.Question? Now that Greg Zappala has taken full control over The infamous cash for kids Pa. Childcare company (smirk), how many kids is brother Stevie, jr. Feeding him?
Will Josh really be Zappala’s biggest challenger?
Certainly, Josh will have serious cash on hand (likely more than $1 million).
But, even $5 million would not buy Josh ANY experience as a D.A., or a prosecutor, or a defense attorney. Has Josh ever even been a law clerk in a D.A.’s office?
Josh’s experience is great for a Senate or Governor run, but the other Dem candidates are going to try to bury him in this gaping hole in his resume.
The GOP pick has the same lack of relevant experience as Josh, so in a General election, Josh could avoid this attack from the GOP’s own glass house. But, in a primary, Josh is going to get hammered on this by not only the other candidates, but the newspaper editorial boards when the papers make their endorsements.
Strong candidate. Best chance for Dems to hold seat and bring back some sanity to the office.
If marty marks is a huckster,some other campaign managers might want to borrow his wagon.cause he has won his last 5 elections.
Observer, it was Zappala that charged the kid to begin with. Leon Ford was laying in a hospital bed fighting for his life, paralyzed from the waist down. The cop said that Ford was “dragging” him from his car when he shot. But then the video showed thT to be false. An internal Memo critical of the Police that was written that Zappala’s office tried to bury.
Maybe there is a silver lining for Shapiro. Zappala is using well known huckster MartyMarks as his campaign manager.
Jim J… Explain what you mean, Zappala decided not to retry the Ford case, how was he covering for the police?
Shapiro is out. No experience. No philly support
There is no end in sight for PA, apparently. Any D will beat the stiff the Rs are running. So – stages are high for the D primary.
But Zappala is going to have a lot of explaining to do she it come to the Leon Ford case. He helped the Police cover-up a bad shooting, where an Officer repeatedly shot an unarmed 19YO that he and his partners mistook for someone else.
Well apparently it’s not that far behind the scenes…