Jamie Gauthier, a Garden Court resident and the former head of the Fairmount Park Conservancy, has announced that she will mount a primary campaign against Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, whose family has controlled the 3rd District seat since the 1970s.

Gauthier is a former president of the Garden Court Community Association, was born in the district and returned as an adult to get a master’s degree at Penn and raise her children here. She served as executive director of the Fairmount Park Conservancy from October 2017 until yesterday when she stepped down to announce her candidacy. She previously served as head of the Sustainable Business Network, a non-profit started in West Philly that helps small businesses balance profitability with social and environmental responsibility. Gauthier has a master’s degree in city planning from Penn. 

The Democratic primary is May 21.

From the “Jamie for West Philly” Facebook page.

Gauthier is running in a complicated district that includes pockets of wealth near Penn and Drexel alongside poorer neighborhoods that are under pressure from gentrification.

“The universities in West Philadelphia are often seen as sources of gentrification, but I think there are ways to work with those institutions to create more local jobs and more procurement opportunities,” she told Plan Philly. “We want the area to be equitable for everyone.”

The 3rd District stretches from Girard Avenue and the Parkside neighborhood in the north, southwest as far as 63rd Street and Lindbergh Boulevard and from the Schuylkill River to Cobbs Creek Parkway.

Blackwell has held the 3rd District seat since taking over for her late husband and former U.S. Representative Lucien Blackwell in 1992. Lucien Blackwell held the seat from 1975 through 1991.