Black Clergy endorses Tony Williams for mayor (but really, really likes Jim Kenney, too)

Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity Inc., a self-described “leading voice on issues particularly affecting African Americans in Philadelphia and Vicinity,” will formally endorse Anthony Hardy Williams for mayor after a Thursday morning prayer breakfast in the city’s Overbrook section.

The group’s leader, Edgar “Sonny” Campbell, told the Inquirer that Williams got the general body’s nod because “he’s got a proven record of delivering for constituents in this city, and he’s got the ability, from his history in Harrisburg, to negotiate for a lot of things the city is going to need from the state.”

However, a majority of the group’s executive committee supported Williams foe Jim Kenney, who recently won the support of a group of African American political leaders from Northwest Philadelphia. (Procedurally speaking, the executive committee votes first and takes its tally to the floor for a general body vote.)

NinetyNine will catch up with Williams at Thursday morning’s endorsement event, but a source close to the endorsement committee shared a letter of gratitude that Kenney sent them.

“I am moved beyond words that I received the endorsement of the Executive Committee and much of the general body’s support,” it reads (PDF). “Hearing that news was by far one of the most humbling moments of this campaign. I will work every day to live up to the faith and trust you all placed in me.”