Carol Ann Campbell

The Mayor’s office has announced the passing of Carol Ann Campbell, who was a major power broker in Philadelphia politics. She wielded tremendous influence as a ward leader and secretary of Philadelphia’s Democratic Party.

She was appointed to the fourth district city council seat in 2006 but lost her primary election battle in 2007 to Curtis Jones Jr.  Although she didn’t spend much time on council, she quickly gained a reputation for someone who had a lot of ideas of what needed to be fixed.

While Campbell was not a household name, she was a force to be dealt with for those in politics.  In 2006, the City Paper called her “the most powerful woman in city politics you’ve never heard of.” Earlier this year, before the democratic presidential primary Michelle Obama personally called Campbell who was a superdelegate to win her support. It was shortly after that call that Campbell endorsed Barack Obama.