Two years after being forced out as party treasurer after a dispute with U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, the party chairman, Dougherty had returned to the fold.

After hearing primary opponent Larry Farnese denounce Dougherty as a "thug" and a turncoat, First Senate District ward leaders voted, 11-5, to endorse the electricians union leader.

"It's a really good day, not only in the campaign but a real good day personally," said Dougherty, whose union - Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers - controls one of the largest political action committees in the state.

Lately for Dougherty, 47, it has been one good day after another as he racks up endorsements from labor - including the police and firefighters unions - and elected officials in his race for the seat that his mentor-turned-foe, Vincent J. Fumo, has held for 30 years.

And all signs are that Dougherty, born and bred in South Philadelphia, is thriving in his first campaign for elected office after years of backing others.

As was the case with Fumo, understanding the immutable force known as Johnny Doc is no simple undertaking. Is he little more than a neighborhood tough, or is he a selfless scrapper for the underdog?

To fellow unionists, Dougherty is a working-class hero, someone who took over a nearly bankrupt local with 1,800 members in 1993, with the help of Fumo, and turned it into a 4,600-strong powerhouse.

His allies see him and his union as a source of money and manpower needed to mount a viable campaign and get out the vote, someone whose support could be "key," as former Mayor John F. Street once said.

To neighbors in South Philadelphia's Pennsport section, where Dougherty grew up and still lives, where his grandfather James J. Dougherty was a state legislator, he is someone who never abandoned his Two Street roots, a fighter for the little guy.

To political opponents, he is a bully who has relied on union muscle to intimidate and harass his foes, a "coward" in the estimation of Street's two-time Republican challenger, Sam Katz.

That reputation is not without foundation. The National Labor Relations Board has repeatedly cited Local 98 for intimidation in labor disputes, and police have arrested union members for hard-nosed tactics on Election Day.

To federal investigators, Dougherty is a subject of interest - a hazard, he asserts, of being a union leader, particularly when Republicans run the White House.

His latest problem involves an electrical contractor and friend named Donald "Gus" Dougherty. Charges in Donald Dougherty's 100-count federal indictment include allegations that the contractor made "illegal payments" to the union leader through the sale of a Shore house and electrical work in his Philadelphia house.

As part of the investigation, FBI agents searched John Dougherty's house. Dougherty, who was paid $182,000 by his union last year, has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing.

Federal authorities also are reported to be looking into Dougherty's stay in a waterfront condo while his home was renovated and whether he truthfully reported the length of his stay on an official disclosure form.

Within Dougherty himself are seeming contradictions.

A Roman Catholic, he supports abortion rights and has indicated that as a parent of a lesbian, he might support same-sex marriages.

As a construction union leader, he supports waterfront casinos, but as head of the Pennsport Civic Association, he opposes the one planned there because his neighbors do.

Thanks to Street, Dougherty served as the $14,000-a-year city representative on the board of Independence Blue Cross and remains the unpaid but influential chairman of the city Redevelopment Authority, which channels tens of millions in government dollars each year into projects in blighted areas.

He also is on the board of the Delaware River Port Authority as an appointee of Gov. Rendell, and has been closely involved with the Convention Center expansion.

The former construction worker's rise to power broker has not been without setbacks.

One of his first candidates, Rick Mariano, a Local 98 member who was elected to City Council in 1995, was convicted of bribery in 2006 and is in prison.

After his ouster as party treasurer, Dougherty supported millionaire Tom Knox in the 2007 mayoral primary, which included Brady and which Michael Nutter won. He also backed Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum in his failed bid to win reelection against Bob Casey in 2006.

But even as the party embraced Dougherty last week, party insiders suggested that the show of support reflected a desire by some ward leaders simply to back a winner.

Besides Farnese, a Center City lawyer who has the backing of the Fumo camp, Dougherty is running in the April 22 primary against Anne Dicker, a community activist.

Since launching his campaign, Doughtery has deflected questions about any investigation involving him, sticking instead to the message that he is the only candidate who can get "real results."

"He already has chits from the governor and other state senators and state reps and people who can be effective," said City Councilman Bill Green Jr., a supporter.

But for Katz, nothing would be more dangerous to the nascent reform movement in Philadelphia than "having in 2008 an elected official named John Dougherty."

Katz, one of the few critics willing to speak on the record, recalled that during his 1999 and 2003 races against Street, electricians union members had shadowed him and his family, intimidating them and his supporters.

"I understand politics is a pretty rough sport," he said, "but there were no limits to what they would say. . . . John would rather win an argument with a fist than with an idea, and he doesn't have any ideas."

Pat Gillespie, head of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, countered that assessment.

"The reputation as a tough guy - I think it's important to have elected officials who will stand their ground," he said. "The only people who call him a bully are those who have a personal ax to grind."

Mark Chilutti, a development official at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, likes to talk about Dougherty's kinder side and extensive charity work.

He met Dougherty in 2000 when Chilutti ran unsuccessfully for the state House against then-Speaker John Perzel, but they really got to know each other two years later when Dougherty's wife, Cecilia, who has a neurological ailment, was a patient at Magee.

Since then, Chilutti said, Dougherty and his union have been major supporters of Magee, which awarded him its Champion of the Community Award in 2004.

"Whenever we need something, he is quick to help in any way he can," he said.

Chilutti also supports Dougherty as a candidate because of his position on guns. Chilutti was shot and paralyzed in a robbery in 1996, and he said he was confident that Dougherty would change state law so that Philadelphia could enact its own gun-control measures.

"He's been in the hospital enough to see the effects of [gun violence] firsthand," Chilutti said.

And then there's Dougherty's description of himself: an "average Joe" who was married and a father when he was 20, lived with the in-laws for a while, worked more than one job to put food on the table, and, after his wife endured her health crisis, says he appreciates his family above all.

"You know what I tell everybody: The easiest way to never forget where you came from is to never leave," he said. "And I've always been able to go home to people who were not impressed with me."