UPDATED: May 4, 3:30 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia voters will choose their next mayor this year. Many have declared their candidacy to replace Jim Kenney, whose term expires in January 2024.
ICYMI: listen to "Breakfast with the Candidates" in full below
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So, who’s up to the job of improving the city and increasing the safety of its residents? Below (in reverse alphabetical order) is KYW Newsradio’s breakdown of each of the remaining declared Democrats — and the sole declared Republican — who are raising their hand.
Among them are former City Council members, a former city controller, a former municipal court judge, a state representative, a grocery store magnate and a community activist. Four of the candidates are women, in a city that has never had a female mayor.
John Wood, a retired police lieutenant, entered late and dropped out early. Former City Councilmembers Maria Quiñones Sánchez and Derek Green have dropped out of the race — Sánchez on April 9, Green on April 13.
Top issues
Public safety is the top issue in the election. The city has suffered more than 500 homicides in each of the last two years. The drug market in Kensington is also getting a lot of attention from the candidates. The number of people dead from overdose hit a record 1,276 in 2021.
Education, affordable housing and job growth are other key concerns. One fact to consider is that the next mayor will have the authority to appoint an entirely new school board.
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The general election will be held Nov. 7, but because of the city’s lopsided Democratic registration, the most heated competition is among Democrats vying in the party primary, which is scheduled for May 16.
The last day to apply for a mail-in ballot is May 9.
Democrats
☑️ Rebecca Rhynhart, 48
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Experience
When she beat incumbent Alan Butkovitz in 2017, Rebecca Rhynhart became the first woman to serve as city controller. Before that, she was Mayor Jim Kenney’s chief administrative officer and Mayor Michael Nutter’s city treasurer and budget director.
Notable endorsements
• Ed Rendell, former mayor of Philadelphia (1992–2000), former governor of Pennsylvania (2003–2011)
• John Street, former mayor of Philadelphia (2000–2008)
• Michael Nutter, former mayor of Philadelphia (2008–2016)
Key facts
It is the city controller’s job to do financial audits of the mayor and City Council to keep players in city government honest and to determine if they are following the law and best practices.
Rhynhart also took it upon herself to make recommendations to fix problems she encountered — actions that earned her few friends among the city leadership.
She has pledged to double the number of Black-owned businesses in the city as mayor.
SAFETY — In 2020, Rhynhart released an audit of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, concluding it had too many workers and its executives were paid too much for an agency of its size and scope.
She has been a consistent and vocal critic of the Kenney administration, highlighting failures to stem the tide of gun violence. Rhynhart supports violence intervention programs
She used the subpoena power of her office to issue a report on the Police Department, in which she called for its complete reorganization. (The police union was not well pleased.)
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EDUCATION — Rhynhart, like most of the candidates, believes charter schools should remain part of the mix of options open to parents.
“We can’t wait for the neighborhood schools to get up to the place where every parent feels comfortable with that, and there needs to be the option of charter,” she said at a recent candidate forum on the subject of education.
Funding
Rhynhart raised about $825,000 in 2022, according to campaign finance reports. Since January, she has added $642,000, mostly from individual donors.
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☑️ Cherelle Parker, 50
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Experience
Before she won her City Council seat representing neighborhoods in northeast and northwest Philly in 2015, Cherelle Parker represented the 200th Legislative District for 10 years in the Pennsylvania House. For five of those years, she was chair of the Philadelphia House Delegation.
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“The inter-governmental experience that our city needs right now to get things done — I have that experience,” Parker said, when she announced her candidacy last year, becoming the third City Council member to join the brigade of Democrats vying for the job.
From age 17 to 32, Parker worked for Councilmember Marian Tasco, who she succeeded as ninth district council member in 2015.
Notable endorsements
• Former City Councilmember Maria Quiñones Sánchez
• Former City Councilmember Derek Green
• Local 403 - Department of Streets, Highway Division
• Local 427 - Department of Streets, Department of Sanitation
• Philadelphia Building Trades Council
• IBEW Local 98
• SEIU
• Communications Workers of America
• Collective PAC
• Pa. Sen. Vincent Hughes
• Philadelphia City Council President Darrell Clarke
• Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity
Key facts
Parker has worked on neighborhood stabilization projects, such “Restore, Repair, Renew,” which helps homeowners get low-interest home improvement loans. And in 2017, she pushed for developers to inform neighbors of the anticipated environmental and other impacts of their proposals before beginning their work.
In 2011, as a state representative, Parker was pulled over in Germantown for driving drunk and driving the wrong way in a state-issued car. She spent years fighting it and was eventually convicted in 2015.
TAXES — Parker picked up a reputation in Harrisburg for being politically savvy and effective, using her clout to score funding for city schools. The Philadelphia Tax Fairness Package gave the city a new tool for collecting delinquent property taxes, which scraped up additional revenue for the district. And she was a key part of the political machinations that led the state to pass a law allowing the city to levy a $2-per-pack cigarette tax to support education.
HEALTH — Parker is a vocal opponent of safe injection sites (also known as supervised injection sites or overdose-prevention sites), where people can use intravenous drugs in the presence of medical staff to prevent overdoses.
Asked about her approach to helping people with substance abuse disorders, she said, “I can tell you that safe injection sites won't be a part of it. ... We need a regional approach. We don't need a safe injection site. You need long-term care, treatment and long-term housing.”
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SAFETY — She says public safety needs to be Philadelphia's top priority, followed by jobs and city services.
"Industry can’t thrive, commerce can’t flow, without us having a safe city. And that will definitely be my number one priority," Parker said, drawing a direct correlation between public safety and economic opportunity.
To that end, she supports strengthening relations between police and the communities they serve. Earlier last year, she published the Philadelphia Neighborhood Safety and Community Policing Plan, outlining priorities such as hiring 300 beat and bike cops, with a focus on community policing, and adding security cameras and lighting throughout the city.
She also supported Council President Darrell Clarke’s call to bring back legal stop and frisk.
EDUCATION — She favors year-round public school. At a mayoral candidate forum about education issues, Parker said she would push to end summer vacation.
To address the city's aging school buildings, she said, repairing outstanding issues is not enough: “Environmental remediation for some is not acceptable to me. Some need to be demolished and rebuilt. Five billion dollars to do it. Let’s come up with a six- to 10-year-plan and make it happen."
Funding
Parker reported raising $546,673 in her 2022 campaign finance filing.
Since January, she has raised more than $600,000. More than half of that sum has come from unions in the Philadelphia Building Trades Council.
☑️ Helen Gym, 55
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Experience
Helen Gym worked her way to city government through community activism and advocacy, especially on issues of public education. Social justice causes and the rights of immigrants and women top her priorities. Before her election to an at-large City Council in 2015, she led fights against development proposals in Chinatown, including a Phillies stadium and a casino.
She was a prominent opponent of the School Reform Commission, the state-created board that ran the School District of Philadelphia from 2001 to 2017.
Notable endorsements
• U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York's 14th congressional district
• U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts' 7th congressional district
• Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vermont
• State Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, from the 184th district
• State Rep. Rick Krajewski, from the 188th district
• City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, from the 3rd district
• City Councilmember-at-large Kendra Brooks
• Reclaim Philadelphia
• Philadelphia Federation of Teachers
• Working Families Party
• AFSCME District Council 47
• UNITE HERE Philly, a union representing hospitality workers
• Make the Road Action in PA
• Sunrise Movement
• One PA
• Community College of Philadelphia faculty and staff union
• Riverward Democrats
• Boston Mayor Michelle Wu
• Jane Fonda
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Key facts
Gym is the first Asian American woman to serve on City Council.
A proud progressive with a penchant for the spotlight, Gym rose relatively quickly from advocate to dominant city-wide campaigner, winning the most at-large council votes in 2019.
Her tactics have been effective at pushing through legislation including Philadelphia’s “Fair Workweek” law, which sets up protections for service, retail and hospitality workers. During the pandemic, she was one of a trio of Council members who sponsored legislation that prevented renters from being evicted, gave them access to free legal representation, and gave landlords options for recouping rent payments.
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TAXES — She favors a citywide wealth tax that critics dismiss as class warfare and which critics say would decimate Philly’s tax base by pushing those who would pay it out of the city.
EDUCATION — A former teacher, she is an advocate for public schools and pushed for every public school to have a full-time nurse and counselor, free high-speed internet through the COVID-19 pandemic, and funds for lead abatement and air conditioning in school buildings.
Gym has unveiled an education proposal that includes guaranteed jobs for teenagers, free SEPTA passes for all city students, and a $10 billion citywide plan to upgrade school buildings.
“My mission as mayor is to lead a school modernization plan for every neighborhood and every community — to be clear and transparent what the repairs are that are needed so that no family member, no child and no teachers has to be scared of what their school building is,” Gym said at a March forum.
Gym says simply raising salaries isn’t enough to attract new teachers: “I don’t think there’s any amount of pay that’s going to enable a teacher to walk into a school without a school nurse. I don’t think that there’s any amount of pay that’s going to make up for when you walk into a classroom with 38 kids in a classroom, and there’s no support staff available for them.”
She criticizes the Philadelphia Parking Authority, whose revenue helps fund public schools, for not paying enough.
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SAFETY — Gym wants to deploy non-police mental health crisis units. And she has worked to get more funding for youth violence-prevention programs and helped end city contracts with entities that have a history of abuse.
She pushed for a “ban the box” law that prevents employers from requiring job applicants to provide juvenile records.
NEIGHBORHOODS — Gym opposes the $1.3 billion proposal to build a Sixers arena in Market East.
Funding
According to her campaign finance report, Gym raised about $850,000 from outside donors and contributed $25,000 of her own money to her campaign in 2022. After raising $762,000 in the first quarter, Gym has $1.4 million to spend, as of April 2023.
☑️ Delscia Gray
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Experience
Delscia Mae Gray has never run for public office and is nearly invisible in this race. She has no campaign committee or candidate website. She has not attended debates or mayoral forums, except for an April 3 forum addressing trauma support for families and victims of gun violence.
Her efforts appear to be confined to social media — her Facebook and LinkedIn pages. She also has a seldom-used Twitter account, which she used in 2016 to ask President-elect Donald Trump to nominate her to be his secretary of state.
According to her Linkedin profile, Gray was born in South Philadelphia and grew up in West Philadelphia, she graduated from Edward Bok Area Vocational Technical High School with honors, she is a graduate of ITT Tech, and she works as a protective services officer at Jefferson Health.
Funding
She did not file a campaign finance report for the first quarter of this year but last year reported having $3,400 on hand and $27,000 in debt as of the end of 2022.
☑️ Allan Domb, 68
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Experience
Allan Domb, colloquially the city’s “condo king,” is a real estate mogul born in New Jersey who reportedly bought his first property at age 14. He is deeply invested in Center City as the founder of Allan Domb Real Estate and as a partner in the Starr Restaurant Organization.
In 2015, with no prior elected experience, Domb won his first of two terms on City Council, donating his salary to the school district.
Notable endorsements
• Bill Green, former mayor of Philadelphia (1980–1984)
Key facts
In the first of what would become a flurry of City Council resignations, Domb left office on Aug. 15, 2022, while in his second term. He waited three months before announcing his long-rumored run for mayor.
He favors term limits for City Council members. Domb pushed for term limits but failed to get the needed nine votes to pass it.
Like other candidates, including fellow former councilmembers Parker, Quiñones-Sánchez and Green, Domb points to poverty as Philly’s most pressing issue.
TAXES — Domb criticized the Kenney administration during his tenure, slamming the city treasurer for losing track of $33 million of tax revenue. He proposed a wage tax refund for the city’s poorest residents, which Philadelphia taxes at a rate higher than many other cities do. Kenney vetoed it.
He favors more-competitive business tax rates, which he says are key to bringing more businesses and jobs to the city.
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EDUCATION — Domb says better education and employment opportunities are the solution to fight poverty, and he prizes financial literacy and fiscal responsibility as his top educational priorities for public and private schools. He has said he would push for high schoolers to be in the classroom four days a week, and use the fifth day for workforce development programs that would earn them both a paycheck and credit toward graduation.
He says he wants to make rebuilding Philly schools a priority. He says the city should have refinanced as much debt as possible while rates were low, to find money to rehabilitate schools. At a minimum, he says, school buildings should have proper heating and air conditioning.
"It’s unacceptable we have to close schools because it’s too hot and that all schools won’t have HVAC until 2027."
HEALTH — His plan includes attacking the city’s addiction crisis, increasing funding and accountability for focused deterrence programs, expanding hospital-based violence intervention programs.
SAFETY — A stated goal of his campaign is to reduce gun violence and homicides by 50% in four years, which he says will require rebuilding public safety infrastructure and improving community-police relations. Improving perceptions of public safety will reduce demand for guns, and prosecuting more gun crimes will improve public safety, he says.
Domb says as mayor he would not replace Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw.
He has issued a list of 10 things he would do in his first 100 days as mayor:
1. Declare a crime emergency, and convene a “public safety cabinet”
2. Aggressively crack down on illegal guns
3. Declare a public health emergency in Kensington
4. Get ATVs and other illegal vehicles off the street
5. Crack down on retail theft
6. Increase penalties for violence against city employees
7. Triple the funding to recruit new police officers
8. Expand programs to protect disadvantaged groups from violence
9. Install cameras at every high school and coordinate with school leaders
10. Clean vacant lots and seal abandoned buildings
NEIGHBORHOODS — His plan includes revitalizing vacant lots and unused properties, improving access to community centers and green spaces, prioritizing rapid re-housing and permanent housing solutions, and expanding workforce development programs.
Domb has been an advocate for streeteries.
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Funding
Allan Domb and Jeff Brown are the two clear winners in the fundraising arena. They are also the wealthiest candidates in the race.
Reports show Domb raised $2.6 million from January through March which, combined with the $5 million he loaned his campaign last year, gave him by far the biggest war chest. Domb has also been the biggest spender, pouring millions into TV and radio ads. Still, at the beginning of April, he had $1.7 million on hand.
☑️ James DeLeon, 75
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Experience
After serving for 34 years as a Philadelphia Municipal Court judge, James DeLeon retired in 2002. He then served the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee as chair of its legal committee.
His previous campaigns for higher office include unsuccessful bids for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the Pennsylvania Superior Court benches.
Key facts
DeLeon announced his plans to run for mayor on Nov. 22, 2022, in front of the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice.
As a Philadelphia Municipal Court judge, DeLeon put himself in legal hot water when, in 2008, the state’s Judicial Conduct Board found him guilty of violating the Pennsylvania Constitution and Code of Judicial Conduct by issuing a bogus “stay away order” on behalf of a social acquaintance.
A 2006 charge alleging prohibited conduct during his campaign for Supreme Court was dismissed.
This campaign’s focus, besides gun violence, includes:
• Municipal services
• Education
• Health care
• Youth services
• Criminal justice reform
• Housing
• Economy
SAFETY — He says his judicial experience gives him a helpful perspective on what’s broken in Philadelphia — especially as it relates to gun violence.
In a Philadelphia Tribune op-ed last year, DeLeon outlined a plan for curbing gun violence and reducing recidivism. He calls for new, restrictive court supervision of anyone arrested and charged for possession of an illegal firearm, as well as mentorship, counseling, training and job placement, in addition to jail time.
As mayor, DeLeon says he would prioritize hiring 1,500 police officers and as many as 4,000 city employees to plug up staffing shortages in almost every department.
EDUCATION — He wants to strengthen literacy in public education, which he says is the key to helping students prepare for the workplace and avoid incarceration. He says he would recruit youth ambassadors from high schools to help inform the city government.
☑️ Jeff Brown, 58
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Experience
As the owner of 12 ShopRite supermarkets, Jeff Brown touts his record of serving former food deserts and low income neighborhoods while hiring formerly incarcerated people into union jobs.
Notable endorsements
• Fraternal Order of Police — Philadelphia Lodge No. 5
• Guardian Civic League
• American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees — District Council 33 (minus Local 403 and Local 427)
• Transport Workers Union of America — Local 234
• United Food and Commercial Workers — Locals 152, 360 and 1776
• Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Local 108
• Teamsters Joint Council 53
• IATSE Local 8
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Key facts
Brown gained national recognition and served for a time as an advisor to First Lady Michelle Obama. He attended the 2010 State of the Union address at her invitation because of his work in Philadelphia's disadvantaged communities.
When he launched his campaign on Nov. 16, 2022, he was the sixth candidate to do so. He blamed all five of his opponents at the time — the recently resigned controller and four recently resigned City Council members, all veterans of city government — for a lack of economic progress in the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
“I’ve watched City Hall and, unfortunately, I’ve watched them fail to make any progress for us. I see legislation passed, I’ve seen people coming and going, and my customers are living in the same circumstances,” he said.
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In April, at a televised mayoral forum, Brown caught heat from the moderator and other candidates when he was asked if he would end the contract that sends Philadelphia trash to privately owned incinerators in Chester. Residents and activists have called the practice environmental racism.
“Chester is Chester. I’m worried about Philadelphians and how their lives are,” Brown said. “What will come first to me is what will be best for my Philadelphians.”
“So you don’t care about Chester?” he was asked by the moderator.
“I do care,” Jeff Brown replied, “but I don’t work for them if I’m the mayor. I work for Philadelphia. And the trash has to go somewhere. And whoever gets it is gonna be unhappy with it.”
Among the major issues of his campaign:
• Generational poverty
• Safer streets, neighborhoods and communities
• Economic advancement
• Support for small and minority-owned businesses
• Stronger schools
• Support and employment for formerly incarcerated citizens
SAFETY — He says he wants to hire more city employees, and he wants the Philadelphia Police Department to up its de-escalation training, but he opposes efforts to hire more officers from outside of the city, advocating for a police force that reflects the lived experience of city residents.
Brown says he would not keep Danielle Outlaw as police commissioner.
EDUCATION — To address the problems with aging infrastructure in the Philadelphia School District, Brown says he wants to build new school buildings. And he says he want so take advantage of the recent Commonwealth Court decision on Pennsylvania school funding to get more state money to take care of urgent problems.
NEIGHBORHOODS — Brown has come out in support of the $1.3 billion Sixers arena proposed to be built in Market East.
Funding:
Brown and Domb are the two clear winners in the fundraising arena, according to their campaign finance reports. They are also the wealthiest candidates in the race. Brown contributed $240,000 of his own money to his campaign in 2022 and raised about $850,000 from outside donors, according to campaign finance filings. He then raised nearly $2 million in the first quarter of 2023, including a loan of $800,000 to himself.
"I’m committed to being competitively financed, and I’m willing to contribute or lend to make sure every citizen knows what I want to do to turn the city around."
Brown has spent nearly everything he has raised, outside of the loan.
On April 24, a Philadelphia judge signed an order barring the political action committee and 501(c)(4) known as For a Better Philadelphia from spending any money to influence the outcome of the May 16 primary or Nov. 7 general election. The city's Board of Ethics has accused the PAC of coordinating with Brown, in violation of election law. The Board said there is “extensive evidence” that Brown raised money for the PAC. Hefty contributions to the PAC — such as $1.25 million from Brown’s Super Stores, which Brown used to own — violate the city's strict limit on contributions.
Brown insists the accusation is a “political hit job,” saying he had legal council for everything he did leading up to his campaign, and he and his team believe they did everything properly. The question of collusion is unlikely to be resolved before the November general election.
☑️ Amen Brown, 35
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Experience
Amen Brown won his seat in the state House, representing the 190th District, in 2020. After redistricting in 2021, he ran for and won the 10th District seat.
Prior to his political career, Brown operated child care facilities and after-school programs, founded a community empowerment center in Overbrook and dabbled in real estate investment.
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Notable endorsements
• George Bochetto (R), former Pennsylvania boxing commissioner (1996–2002) and 2022 U.S. Senate candidate
• Vince Fumo (D), former state senator
• John Perzel (R), former state House speaker
• Marty Burger, New York City real estate developer
• Val DiGiorgio, former chair of the state Republican Party
Key facts
Brown describes himself as a moderate Democrat whose priorities include:
• Public safety
• Reducing crime, especially gun violence
• Advancing economic development
• Jobs
• Housing development without displacement
• Quality of life, clean neighborhoods
Brown is also known for some positions that go against the grain of the typical Philly Democrat and critics have said he works too closely with Republicans. He says he prioritizes solving problems over toeing the party line.
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Notably, he supported House legislation that would increase mandatory minimum sentences for people with multiple arrests. And when House Republicans began their impeachment crusade against District Attorney Larry Krasner, Brown was one of 10 House Democrats who voted to hold him in contempt for his failure to comply with a subpoena. (Brown later withheld his vote on Krasner’s impeachment.)
He drew sharp criticism early in his campaign when he flubbed an interview with a Fox 29 reporter by overestimating the city’s budget by $10 billion.
Brown’s legal and fiscal woes have come under increased scrutiny since he declared. Former partners and creditors are suing him for $144,000 in unpaid debt. He owes thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes from his business dealings. When Brown was running for his 10th District seat, the city sued him and a partner for more than $30,000 in unpaid taxes and penalties. More than $100,000 in other liens and judgments have stacked up as well. And Brown was implicated in deed fraud for a house he bought from someone his attorney says was posing as the property’s deceased owner
A Common Pleas judge found that Brown had made material omissions from the Statement of Financial Interest that candidates and officials must file with the state. The omission could have gotten him removed from the ballot, but the judge gave him a second chance to file the statement and he stayed on the ballot.
SAFETY — He says his direct experience with gun violence and criminal justice have influenced his views. A friend was killed by gunfire, and Brown was shot at age 14. He also spent some time in jail after a police sweep in high school, before drug charges against him were dropped.
Brown said at a recent mayoral forum that he would replace Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw.
EDUCATION — Brown graded the school board a “C+” at a recent mayoral forum on the topic of education. He said school board members should be more involved in the community.
At the same forum, he said he would examining the condition of every school building: “We’re going to evaluate each and every school within the first 100 days to see what needs to be done. Whether it needs to be knocked down and rebuilt — or, if it’s a historical building we’ll keep the building and relocate the school in that same area.”
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He has called for increased security in public schools. And he has publicly supported transgender kids’ rights, voting in Harrisburg last year against a bill that would have forced students to use only restrooms and locker rooms that align with the gender they were assigned at birth — which Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed after it passed the General Assembly.
Brown has been a strong proponent of charter schools and vouchers.
Funding
Brown has raised very little money. He was expected to be largely funded by charter school advocate Jeffrey Yass, Pennsylvania's richest person, but filings so far show neither Yass nor the two major PACs associated with him spending on the mayor's race.
Brown's campaign finance report for the first quarter, which was filed a week late, showed total contributions of under $35,000. He had $16,500 on hand as of six weeks before the election.
☑️ Warren Bloom, 70
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Experience
The Rev. Warren Bloom Sr. is a minister of the Bible Ministries Fellowship Church; an independent, licensed public claims adjuster; a drummer and singer; and formerly the 6th Ward, 5th Division acting committee person to serve West Philadelphia. He has served his community variously as a judge of elections, a block captain and a neighborhood watch leader.
Key facts
Between 2003 and 2018, Bloom made six unsuccessful runs for public office in Philly, including bids for city commissioner, Traffic Court judge, and (as a candidate of the "Warren Bloom Party") state representative for the 195th District.
In the midst of Bloom’s 2013 run for Traffic Court, several media outlets turned up a history of the candidate’s own traffic violations, as well as a record of unpaid taxes and a 1992 conviction for simple assault, indecent assault and corrupting a minor — for which he served at least two years of probation.
Bloom publicly announced his candidacy for mayor on Dec. 2, 2022, dancing on a sidewalk in Mantua and urging voters to "get down to help the city stand back up."
His GoFundMe page mentions his "6 Point Plan for Philadelphia" — including:
• Public safety and crime reduction
• Education
• The opioid crisis
• Trash disposal
• Economic development
• Legalizing marijuana
Campaign materials also mention issues such as fair pay for essential workers, labor unions, women’s health, veterans’ health, environmental excellence, criminal justice excellence, and equal rights for all groups.
TAXES — Bloom says he does not support the Philadelphia beverage tax.
Republicans
☑️ David Oh, 62
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Experience
First elected as an at-large member in 2011, David Oh served for 11 years on City Council.
The former assistant district attorney is the first Asian American to hold political office in the city. And when he resigned, he was the only Army veteran serving on Council.
He left City Council on a bit of a sour note after making a last-ditch effort to get his colleagues to pass a resolution on police training he had been tabling for two years.
He seldom did well in his own party’s primary but always managed to win the highest number of crossover votes in the general election.
Oh was the last Republican to hold an at-large seat reserved for a minority party. The other is now held by the Working Families Party.
Key facts
On Feb. 13, David Oh joined five of his former fellow City Council members in the race for the mayor's office.
Oh is the only declared Republican in the race so far. Ten people have announced their run for the Democratic primary.
As a Republican, Oh has a lot to overcome. The GOP in Philadelphia represents fewer than 12% of voters. Even independents and other third-party candidates have more voters in the city. No Republican has won the mayor’s race since 1947.
The five priorities he lists on his campaign site are:
• Public safety and crime
• Education reform
• Jobs and economic prosperity
• Clean streets and improved infrastructure
• Fiscal responsibility and tax reform
SAFETY — Oh blames the current mayor and district attorney for the recent escalation of violent crime, caused, he says, by their ignoring illegal guns, minor crime, illegal drugs and violations of public safety,
HEALTH — He is highly critical of the pandemic-related closures and public safety measures mandated by the state and the significant impact it had on Philadelphia's economy.
TAXES — Oh says he does not support the Philadelphia beverage tax.
EDUCATION — Oh has said he would seek a school district examination of funding sources to pay for asbestos remediation, including any COVID-related relief money, and other federal and state funding, yet available or unused.