The Philadelphia Mayor's Race Is Today, If Only Philly Voters Knew About It

There's still time, go vote!

Today, Philadelphia voters will select the Democratic nominee for mayor. Democrats account for a whopping 85 percent of Philly's electorate. A Republican will run against the Democratic nominee in the fall but they'll consider themselves lucky to pull in more than 10 percent of the remaining vote. That makes tonight's primary winner all but a lock for mayor.

This election is a big deal. Philadelphia's population of more than 1.5 million is greater than the US states of Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine, Montana, Rhode Island, Delaware, both Dakotas, Alaska, Vermont, and Wyoming.

Yet coverage of this race has been muted, and the expected voter turnout is about 15 percent of eligible voters. Recent polls show the primary is a statistical tie among five candidates — Rebecca Rhynhart at 18 percent, Cherelle Parker at 17 percent, Helen Gym at 15 percent, Allan Domb at 14 percent, and Jeff Brown bringing up the rear at 11 percent.

“We have the chance to really remake Philly government with a woman mayor and a fresh and younger City Council. We could move away from the old school Philly politics that most of the mayoral candidates still seem tied to, despite some flashy ads and law&order rhetoric. 3/🧵”

— Victoria Brownworth (@Victoria Brownworth) 1684145126 

Philadelphia-based journalist Victoria Brownworth tweeted Monday, "We have the chance to really remake Philly government with a woman mayor and a fresh and younger City Council. We could move away from the old school Philly politics that most of the mayoral candidates still seem tied to, despite some flashy ads and law & order rhetoric."

One of the top three polling candidates could become Philadelphia's first woman mayor. Rebecca Rhynhart is the former city controller who promises to make government work, because apparently government is just like a jammed printer. She does have a considerable number of plans to address the opioid epidemic, public safety, the housing crisis, and education. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, she "appeals to a mix of progressives who like how she talks about underserved neighborhoods, conservative Democrats who see her as pro-business, and good-government types who think she knows the bureaucracy."

Cherelle Parker, who's Black, was a member of the City Council until last September. She'd previously served from 2005 to 2015 in the state House of Representatives. (She's not yet 50 so this is impressive.) In 1990, she won a school district-wide oratorical competition with a speech that moved the adult audience to tears: "I, Cherelle Parker, was a child that most people thought would never succeed ... You know? They almost had me thinking the same thing.” She clearly proved the doubters wrong.

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Helen Gym is considered a rising progressive star. She'd also become the city's first mayor of Asian descent.

 CNN reports:  

Gym helped pass legislation to protect tenants from eviction and to guarantee a range of upgrades to city schools, including the guarantee of full-time nurses and clean water in buildings, as well as a “Fair Workweek” ordinance that promises wage workers fair notice of schedule changes. She is campaigning on a platform that includes a jobs guarantee for adults younger than 30 and the promise to declare a state of emergency on gun violence on her first day in office, along with robust funding for schools and a “holistic” public safety project.

“I want political change to be more than just a change of faces,” Gym said, when asked about the historic nature of her campaign. “It just has to be bigger than that. There needs to be a real transformation of what politics can do right now. And especially at the municipal level, where the odds are set against us.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have both endorsed Gym. She also has the support of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. Former Philadelphia Mayor and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has backed Rhynhart. House Reps. Dwight Evans and Brendan Boyle are in Parker's corner, along with Philadelphia Council President Darrell Clarke.

Brown and Domb are self-funded millionaire candidates who have the financial advantage of reminding voters they exist.

 Brownworth writes:  

Brown is running a classic “pick up the damn trash” and “do something about crime” quality-of-life campaign that harkens back to John Street’s campaigns for mayor. (Street promised to get abandoned cars off the streets — and did.) Domb is, inexplicably, running against Mayor Jim Kenney with a couple ads featuring the Mayor’s unfortunate comments about how he looked forward to not being mayor following a July 4 melee that had people fleeing gunshots at the concert on the Parkway.

If you're a Philadelphia resident, please make sure you've voted before the polls close today. We also wouldn't mind if you helped make mayoral history. (Yes, we are openly pushing for the woman candidates.)

[ Philadelphia Inquirer / CNN / EPGN ]

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