Apparently, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak turns to Ned Lamont.

Remember Lamont, the businessman who challenged U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman in the 2006 Democratic primary election in Connecticut? Lamont won the primary but lost in the general election to Lieberman, who ran as an independent.

The similiarities between Lamont and Sestak are obvious. Lamont was viewed as an upstart with the suppport of progressive activists and bloggers. Sestak is drawing similar backing in his Democratic primary challenge against U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, who recently joined the Democrats after deciding he could not prevail in a Republican primary in Pennsylvania.

Lamont is coming to Philly Monday to endorse Sestak. We learned of the plan after Sestak's campaign sent a cryptic e-mail promising an endorsement from "one of the few Democratic candidates who successfully challenged his party."

In under an hour we tracked down Lamont at this office in Greenwich, Conn., to ask him about his plans.

"I'm going to sit tight on this," Lamont told us when we asked if he was the mystery endorser. "I am going to follow their lead. But I am planning on coming down there [Monday] for Joe."

A little something for the effort

It was no surprise to see legal powerhouse Stephen Cozen at last week's groundbreaking for the SugarHouse casino in Fishtown. After all, the chairman of the Cozen O'Connor law firm led the charge for the casino's investors in several legal battles.

But PhillyClout was surprised to learn that Cozen was added as one of the casino's owners just days before groundbreaking.

Cozen now owns 1 percent of a company controlled by car dealer Robert Potamkin and the family of attorney Richard Sprague. That company owns 33.65 percent of the project. Cozen called his ownership a "private matter."

We hear the small share was a token of appreciation for Cozen's efforts on behalf of SugarHouse.

Speaking of SugarHouse . . .

Developer Peter DePaul was also added as a last-minute investor in the casino project. Actually, he was re-added, since DePaul was part of the original investor group back in 2006 but bailed out when the state Gaming Control Board fined him $100,000 for violating the state gaming act's ban on casino investors making political contributions.

DePaul, who is also an investor in Foxwoods, the city's other casino project, filed a legal challenge in 2007 that led this year to the state Supreme Court overturning the ban on contributions.

DePaul then had Sprague send the Gaming Control Board a letter demanding his $100,000 back, plus 6 percent interest.

That demand is expected to be considered Tuesday by the state's Board of Finance and Revenue.

State Treasurer Rob McCord is chairman of that board. Through a spokeswoman, McCord's office declined to comment on DePaul's case.

The state Senate last week approved legislation that reinstates the ban on political contributions by casino investors. That legislation must now be considered by the state House.

Top Nutter aide departs

The mayor's office is slowly getting smaller. A top aide to Mayor Nutter has announced that she will not return to the administration from an extended leave of absence. Pauline Abernathy will remain instead with the Institute for College Access and Success, a nonprofit she helped launch.

"It was a really hard decision," Abernathy said. "The mayor could not have been more gracious and supportive."

Several top Nutter officials have left in recent months. Nutter's deputy mayor for planning and economic development, Andrew Altman, crossed the pond over the summer for a job with the 2012 London Olympics. And Mark Alan Hughes, Nutter's original sustainability czar, left the government in June. So far, there have been no hires to replace any of the lost talent.

Quotable

"The ability to stand so quietly and calmly, I think will be recognized by the academy. After the premiere, I'm looking forward to a number of calls from agents."

- Mayor Nutter before last night's screening here of "Law Abiding Citizen," in which he has a walk-on role.

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phillyclout@phillynews.com.

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