John Dougherty

Almost three months after a stunning loss in his bid for state Senate, powerful Philadelphia union leader John Dougherty suffered another political setback this week when a federal court struck down attempts by his union PAC to keep its spending secret.

The political wing of Dougherty's IBEW Local 98 had hoped to keep details of its $2.5 million spending from last year secret, and has been warring with the city's Ethics Board over racially-charged flyers distributed last year during last year's mayoral primary, in which Dougherty supported millionaire Tom Knox over eventual winner Michael Nutter.

Dougherty's electricians' union had argued that laws requiring disclosure of its spending violated the group's constitution rights. But Chief Judge Harvey Bartle III shot down that assertion as "patently inconsistent" with previous federal rulings on requirements for political action committee reporting, The Daily News reports.

The union is considering its appeal options. 

Senate District 1 Democratic candidate Larry Farnese has apparently gone more than $476k in debt during his primary against John Dougherty.  Farnese’s campaign spent an estimated $780k total during the primary of which more than half is in debt.  All for a $73,000/yr job.  My guess is Farnese is not a big listener of the Dave Ramsey show. 

The guilty plea by a friend was the latest political setback for powerful union leader John Dougherty, who has seen the influence of his union wane and suffered his own loss in a run for state Senate last month.

The good news for Dougherty: There's no longer any need for him to testify and possibly open himself up for future prosecution.

Whether he recovers politically from his recent loss and his friend's legal troubles remains to be seen.