what was described as an "underground write-in campaign" in the 2008 Democratic primary election. With no Democrat on the ballot, a write-in candidate emerged in an attempt to secure a position on the November ballot as a Democrat. He organized his own campaign and defeated his opponent 1,372–416, meaning that O'Brien was listed on both parties' ballots in the general election. Post-Speakership Upon the election of 2008, the Democrats saw the opportunity to put their own in the Speaker's office. Representative Keith McCall of Carbon County was elected Speaker with O'Brien opting out of the race. He was named the minority chairman of the House Committee on Children and Youth. In addition to those responsibilities, O'Brien worked with the Department of Public Welfare to ensure implementation of Act 62 (mandating autism insurance in Pennsylvania) which he wrote and passed while he was the Speaker. 2011 City Council election O'Brien announced his intention to run for one of the minority seats on Philadelphia's City Council in 2011. He, attorney David Oh, and incumbent Frank Rizzo Jr. were considered the clear favorites among the Republican contenders. On May 17, 2011, in spite of not being supported by any of the party organizations, O'Brien won one of the five GOP nominations for the City Council's at-large seats, with 17.32% of the vote. Oh won 18.50% of the vote, being first among the field of candidates, while Rizzo was soundly defeated, coming in 7th out of nine candidates—a result some have attributed to his involvement in DROP, the Deferred Retirement Option Plan. O'Brien went on to be the top finisher among the minority party candidates with an approximately 10,000-vote lead. He was sworn into Council on January 2, 2012. He was the sole member of Council voting to oppose a public water rate setting board, opting to instead leave that decision in the hands of the Water Commissioner. 2015 Council Re-Election O'Brien again ran for re-election to one of the two minority seats. He faced a field of five candidates, including the other incumbent, David Oh. With 100 percent of the ballots counted, O'Brien lost to Oh and Councilman Al Taubenberger. References External links City Councilman Denny O'Brien profile, phila.gov Speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Philadelphia City Council members 1952 births Living people La Salle University alumni Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives