Philly’s GOP has a new contender

Just how tough is it for Republicans to find a mayoral candidate in this town? The latest under consideration is a Democratic committeewoman from South Philly.

Republican leaders have been looking for an alternative to announced candidate John Featherman, and a volunteer has stepped forward.

Karen Brown is a lifelong Democrat who just days ago was running for City Council in the Democratic primary. But she said she has complaints about the party.

She was angry that when she appeared before the Democratic City Committee for candidate interviews, Milton Street was scheduled to follow her. She said she’s ashamed the party would even listen to Street, not long out of prison for failing to file tax returns.

Brown is also angry that her own ward leader, John Dougherty, won’t support her.

So she said she’ll run as a Republican, with a message of sisterhood.

“I just believe that women need to rally around me,” Brown said. “Forget the party lines, come together and support a woman. Because women tend to look at things differently from men. And, no disrespect to men, but we’ve given you your shot. Look what you’ve done. Give me mine.”

GOP party chairman Vito Canuso said Republican leaders will consider Brown and Featherman, a self-described libertarian. He said they could choose not to endorse anyone, and hold an open party primary.

He said party leaders won’t even consider the issue until sometime after the filing deadline, which is March 9.