How Jeff Brown’s three bad days could shape the Philly mayor’s race

Jeff Brown is on defense.

The businessman running for Philadelphia mayor on a pitch that he’s different from the rest of the politicians in the race has for months been seen as a top contender. But he’s had a tough week, with a comment about trash going viral just a day after an ethics probe dominated the news.

Brown made national headlines for a dismissive answer during Tuesday’s debate about Philadelphia’s practice of contracting a company to incinerate city trash in Chester. Asked how he’d handle complaints from residents there about pollution and environmental racism, Brown said, “Chester is Chester. I’m worried about Philadelphians.”

In a made-for-TV moment, the moderator asked: “So, you don’t care about Chester?”

The televised debate, the first of the campaign, came just a day after one of the mayoral race’s most explosive revelations burst into public view, when the city’s Board of Ethics filed a lawsuit alleging that Brown coordinated with an outside spending group that is supporting his candidacy, in violation of the city’s campaign-finance laws.

His competition on Tuesday piled on, with nearly every contender questioning his ethics during or after the debate. Helen Gym called the potential violations “egregious,” and Cherelle Parker said his campaign has been “built on deception.” And three candidates — Parker, Gym, and Rebecca Rhynhart — immediately blasted Brown for his comments about Chester.

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The controversies come as Allan Domb — a real estate magnate who has poured $7 million into his own campaign for mayor — has paid big to air negative advertising about Brown, the only candidate who has thus far been beaten up by another on television.

All the negative attention has rival campaigns and political insiders speculating that Brown’s support could wane and what that could mean for the nine other Democrats ahead of Philadelphia’s May 16 primary election. His campaign released a poll in February showing him leading the pack, but without any independent, public polling, it’s unclear how robust his support is or how it’s trending.

Brown, for his part, is digging in. In his view, the attacks are part of expected pushback. He has been unabashed in his criticism of anyone who has held political office while the city has navigated intersecting crises, and he says his rivals are corrupt and attacking him because they don’t have accomplishments to run on.

Kyle Anderson, a spokesperson for Brown’s campaign, said in a statement Wednesday that Brown is fighting against “entrenched political elite.”

“Virtually every other candidate has served in elected office while this city has deteriorated, and they are accountable for that,” Anderson said. “Electing any of them mayor would be entrusting the person who created the mess to clean it up.”

» READ MORE: Philly mayoral candidate Jeff Brown calls ethics allegations ‘political'

Anderson also clarified Brown’s comments on Chester, saying that as mayor, Brown would review all proposed contracts, including those with waste disposal firms.

“To suggest that his focus on serving Philadelphians over residents of another municipality is somehow racist is a lie and the kind of distortion we’ve come to expect from some of the other candidates,” he said.

Multiple candidates said during and after the debate that the comments were racially insensitive, given that Chester is a majority-Black city. After Brown said, “The trash has got go somewhere,” Rhynhart said. “That’s not really an appropriate answer.” Meanwhile, Gym said, “disgrace,” and Parker said, “That response is the same way you treat the Black and brown community.”

Brown has been criticized throughout the campaign over comments about race that are being labeled tone-deaf or offensive. His early ads targeted voters of color, featuring footage of former first lady Michelle Obama and emphasizing Brown’s work opening ShopRite stores in underserved neighborhoods.

But Obama’s office publicly rejected the ads, saying they implied she had made an endorsement. Several of Brown’s rivals also criticized a comment he made at a January event where he said, “People of color, especially Black people, have been my life’s work.”

And at the end of March, Philadelphia Magazine editor at large Ernest Owens posted video of Brown saying that if people knew of his opponents’ corruption, “they’d lynch them.” Brown immediately apologized after the video was made public, saying the word “has no place in public discourse.”

Still, Brown’s campaign believes he has maintained significant support among Black voters by allying himself with prominent Black surrogates and labor unions with majority-Black memberships. He has also tried to appeal to working-class white residents through a mix of tough-on-crime rhetoric and a focus on quality-of-life issues, such as his campaign slogan, “pick up the damn trash.”

If Brown’s support at any point declines, candidates trying to appeal to those demographic blocs, such as Parker and Domb, likely stand to gain the most.

» READ MORE: Mayor debate: Who and what got the most time?

Parker is running advertising emphasizing that her election would be historic, in that she would be the first woman — and first Black woman — to be Philadelphia mayor. She has amassed a range of endorsements from top Black officials, including state Sen. Vincent Hughes and Sen. Sharif Street, and she is expected to be endorsed by City Council President Darrell L. Clarke this week.

And Domb has targeted a mix of business-friendly types and more conservative Democrats. He opened a campaign office in Northeast Philadelphia, and his television commercials — those that aren’t focused on Brown — center on crime and quality of life.

The rest of the crowded field could also benefit from the ethics board investigation beyond the negative headlines about Brown. A city judge on Monday temporarily barred the super PAC supporting him from spending any more money to influence the race. That prohibition will last at least through April 24, when a full hearing is scheduled.

At the same time, Brown’s campaign has been spending less money on television ads, which are widely considered the best way to reach undecided voters.

For most of the race, Brown’s campaign and the super PAC spent at least a combined $150,000 a week on television advertising, according to media buyers. The last two weeks, Brown’s campaign spent less than $100,000 a week on television ads — less than Domb, Rhynhart, and Gym.

Inquirer staff writer Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this article.