Brown Implies He Would Back Koch for Another Term

Ron Brown, the first black chairman of the Democratic Party, appeared to resign himself Sunday to supporting Edward I. Koch for reelection as mayor of New York if Koch wins his party’s nomination, but sounded as if he would encourage the Rev. Jesse Jackson to run for mayor of Washington if Marion Barry decided not to seek another term.

At the same time, Brown, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said that he would support Richard M. Daley for mayor of Chicago if Daley is the Democratic nominee--”that’s not even a close call for me”--even if, as it appears likely, a black Democrat runs on an independent ticket against Daley.

Three times Sunday, Brown was asked whether he would support Koch in that circumstance, and although he never mentioned the mayor by name in his replies, he said in his final response that his support as party chairman would “probably include all legitimate Democrats” who have won Democratic primaries.

Koch has incurred the enmity of a large part of the city’s black vote for his clashes with Jackson during Jackson’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination last year.

As to the Washington situation, Brown noted that Jackson has said that he has no plans to run for mayor here. But when Brown was asked whether he would “encourage” Jackson to run if Barry does not seek a fourth term, Brown replied that if Jackson “asked me for my opinion,” he would “certainly have some ideas for him.”