Bob Brady

Early life, education, and pre-congressional career

Brady was born in Philadelphia, the son of Enez (née Caterini) and Robert G. Brady, a police officer. His father was of Irish descent, and his maternal grandparents were immigrants from Italy. He graduated from St. Thomas More High School, but did not attend college, instead going to work as a carpenter. He became a part of the leadership of the union, and remains a member of several unions.

He was elected a precinct committeeman for the Democratic Party in 1968. When ward leader and then-City Council President George X. Schwartz was convicted and imprisoned in the Abscam scandal, Brady was elected to succeed him as Democratic Leader of the 34th Ward, a position that he still holds today. Since June 1986, Brady has been the Chairman of the Philadelphia Democratic Party. He served as a staff aide in the Philadelphia City Council and a staff aide in the Pennsylvania State Senate. Brady has been an instructor at the University of Pennsylvania. He was also a member of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission from 1991 until his election as a Congressman.

Elections

When 17-year U.S. Congressman Tom Foglietta resigned from the House of Representatives upon being named U.S. Ambassador to Italy by Bill Clinton, Brady was unopposed in the primary and won the general election with 74% of the vote. Brady was sworn in on May 19, 1998. He has won re-election since, with at least 81% of the vote. An 18-year veteran in Congress in 2016, Brady was elected to his 10th full term over Republican challenger Deborah Williams in the general election on November 8, 2016, with his 81% of the vote record intact. Brady represents a heavily Democratic area and is the head of the Philadelphia Democratic Party, thus, he is granted the Democratic nomination in each election unopposed. Deborah Williams also ran against Brady in the 2004 race, and in that race she received the second highest amount of votes a Republican candidate has ever achieved against the incumbent, which she topped in the 2016 election. The 2016 election marks the most votes any challenger has ever received against him.

Tenure

Brady is pro-choice and voted against President Bush's restrictions on funding to family planning groups in 2001. Over the years, he has supported minors’ abortion rights, voting in 2005 for the right for those under 18 years of age to obtain abortions across state lines without parental consent. He voted against the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which prohibits health insurance companies from offering abortion coverage in a plan to any citizen. He opposed a proposal to prohibit federally funded abortion services. Over the past fifteen years, organizations such as the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, and Planned Parenthood rated him 100%.

Brady voted in favor of the Small Business Lending Fund and Tax Law Amendment. The September 2010 amendment provides loans to small business through financial institutions. He supported the Small Business Jobs Bill in October 2010.

Brady voted against the Secure Fence Act (2006), which authorized the construction of additional fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006. He supports Homeland Security Appropriations for border protection and The U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Technology project, which works towards improving the capability of the government to keep track of immigrants and control their entry and exit. Groups such as the National Latino Congreso/William C. Velásquez Institute, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the anti-immigrant Federation for American Immigration Reform have rated Brady between 50% and 100% for his pro-immigration political stances.

Brady claims to have once refused to receive a phone call from President Bill Clinton because he was busy helping a woman who had called seeking someone to come over and fix her toilet.

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

2007 Mayoral campaign

On January 25, 2007 Brady announced that he would seek the Democratic Party nomination for mayor of Philadelphia. He was the second sitting U.S. Congressman after Chaka Fattah to announce his candidacy for mayor. On March 6, Brady failed to list his city pension on the financial-interests statement he filed with his nominating petitions. Within a week Milton Street filed a petition challenge to remove Brady from the ballot for failing to disclose his pension income. Another challenge was brought by a group of voters, and supported by mayoral candidates Tom Knox and Dwight Evans. On April 13, 2007, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that Brady's failure to not list part of his income would not keep him off the primary ballot. On May 15, 2007, Brady lost the Democratic mayoral primary to Michael Nutter.

Power and influence

Electoral history