The 2023 Pennsylvania General Election, when Philadelphians will elect a new mayor, is just three weeks away. On Thursday, Oct. 19, from 6-8 p.m., the 27th Ward Democratic Committee (Facebook page) is hosting a meet and greet with mayoral candidate Cherelle Parker at the West Philly restaurant Clarkville, located at 43rd and Baltimore. The event is free and open to the public. Check out the flyer below for more details.

Parker is running against Republican David Oh in the general election on November 7.

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Photo from CherelleParker.com

Cherelle Parker comfortably won the Democratic nomination for mayor in Tuesday’s primary election and will likely become the first woman to hold the job in city’s history.

Parker, a Mount Airy resident and the only native Philadelphian among the top three vote-getters, dominated in heavily African American wards in the city. Parker received 32.95 percent of the votes (69,499 ballots cast). Former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart received 22.63 percent (47,737 ballots), and former City Councilmember and education reformer Helen Gym received 21.31 percent (44,946 ballots).

It is worth noting that the voter turnout was low, with the total of 239,680 ballots cast, or about 23.5 percent of registered voters. Continue Reading

As you may have heard, Tuesday is Election Day in Pennsylvania. Locally, it’s kind of a big deal with candidates for mayor, the entire City Council, sheriff, a bunch of judges, controller, register of wills and four questions on the ballot.

It all can be a little overwhelming, so what follows is a slew of links to help you make sense of it. Remember that Pennsylvania has closed primaries, so you have to be registered in a party to vote for a candidate. But you independents can still vote for ballot questions.

Who’s running?

There is no shortage of info on candidates for mayor. One place to start to hear from the candidates themselves is the Committee of 70’s “Last Word” mayoral forum held on May 4. Billy Penn’s “Procrastinator’s Guide” to the election is also super helpful for info on all of the candidates from Mayor to City Council to Supreme Court.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a good analysis of the four ballot questions here. Continue Reading

City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier (3rd District), the incumbent candidate in the May primary election, will officially open the District office on Friday, March 31, at 606 South 52nd St. (52nd and Cedar). The grand opening and a ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. on Friday and all are invited.

The 3rd District office will be open to visitors from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Additional hours are expected to be added soon. Residents are invited to visit the district office to receive constituent services from City Council staff.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier’s path to re-election got a lot easier this week when Jabari K. Jones, widely seen as a viable competitor to her 3rd District seat, dropped out of the race.

Jones, the 28-year-old head of the West Philadelphia Corridor Collaborative, positioned himself to the right of Gauthier on issues like development and crime, but withdrew from the race on Monday ahead of a hearing on legal challenges to his nominating petitions. He was one of about a two dozen candidates for City Council who faced challenges to their paperwork this week. The challenges are a longstanding tradition in Philly politics.

Lodged by three 3rd District voters and committeepeople, the legal challenges alleged that many of the people who signed Jones’ nominating petitions did not live in the District or were not registered Democrats. City Council candidates are required to submit 750 signatures to be nominated.

The 3rd District race was setting up to be one of the more competitive races in this year’s municipal primaries. There is no Republican challenger to Gauthier’s seat. All 17 City Council seats will be on May 16 primary ballots.

West Philly voters will have a chance this week to meet some candidates for the City Council’s At-Large seats and mayor at two community forums. Both events will take place on Thursday, March 16. Here are some more details about each event.

• The Enterprise Center (4548 Market St.) is hosting a Mayor 100: Minority-Owned Business Policy Forum, where Democratic and Republican candidates for mayor will have an opportunity to listen to business owners’ concerns and offer their vision for strengthening related policies in the incoming administration. The event will be moderated by WHYY’s Cherri Gregg and the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Layla Jones. Shirley Franklin, former Mayor of Atlanta, will deliver keynote remarks at the start of the event.

The forum is hosted in collaboration with Futurnet, the Urban League of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Equity Alliance, WHYY, and other organizations. Continue Reading