By now, you should know the many candidates for mayor of Philadelphia. Many more, however, are running for Philadelphia City Council. (Some of them are facing petition challenges that are pushing them off the ballot on a weekly basis.)
In 2023, all 17 seats on the City’s governing body are up for grabs: 10 geography-based district seats, and seven at-large seats. Democratic and Republican Philadelphia voters have their first chance to vote for the candidates of our choosing in the primary on May 16.
In the primary, voters can choose only members of their own party. Third-party candidates first come into the picture during the municipal election on November 7, alongside Democratic and Republican primary winners. (This means you will not see Working Families Party candidates Kendra Brooks and Nic O’Rourke on the May ballot.)
At-large incumbents running for their jobs again are: Kendra Brooks (Working Families Party / WP), Katherine Gilmore Richardson (Democrat / D), Jim Harrity (D, chosen in 2022 by special election) and Isaiah Thomas (D).
AT-LARGE CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL
DEMOCRATIC PARTY / REPUBLICAN PARTY
District incumbents looking to go another round are: Mark Squilla (D), Kenyatta Johnson (D), Jamie Gauthier (D), Curtis Jones Jr. (D), Mike Driscoll (D), Quetcy Lozada (D, special election), Anthony Phillips (D, special election), Cindy Bass (D) and Brian O’Neill (R).
DISTRICT CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL
1ST DISTRICT / 2ND DISTRICT / 3RD DISTRICT / 4TH DISTRICT / 5TH DISTRICT / 6TH DISTRICT / 7TH DISTRICT / 8TH DISTRICT / 9TH DISTRICT / 10TH DISTRICT
By March 7, all candidates needed to turn in their signed petitions to be permitted onto the May 16 primary ballot. Between now and primary day, candidates can challenge each other’s signatures.
AT-LARGE CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL
All seven At-Large seats on Philadelphia City Council are up for grabs in 2023. Three Democratic at-large Councilmembers resigned to run for mayor; two were replaced in a special election; one of these two (Harrity) will run for another term.
Rules dictate that at least two At-Large seats must go to a member of the non-majority party. In recent decades, the minority seats went to Republicans, but currently only Kendra Brooks of the Working Families Party occupies a minority seat, since former At-Large Republican David Oh resigned to run for mayor. This means at least one newcomer to City Council will occupy a minority At-Large seat.