Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson is slated to become Philly’s youngest ever majority leader

Blondell Reynolds Brown had just been elected to Philadelphia City Council when a 15-year-old girl she’d never met before handed her a letter about being inspired by her success.

More than a decade later, that girl would grow up to be one of Brown’s closest aides, then herself be elected to Council in 2019. And now, Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson, at age 39, is slated to become the youngest ever Democratic majority leader, the legislative body’s No. 2 leadership role.

It’s been a swift political ascent for Gilmore Richardson, who was this year elected to just her second term on Council representing the city at-large, and she will be the first at-large member to hold the majority leader role since the city’s modern form of government was established more than 70 years ago.

Gilmore Richardson, who lives with her family in Wynnefield, said her progression has been natural — she started volunteering for Reynolds Brown as a teenager, served as a graduate intern, then worked in a variety of constituent services and legislative roles. For a time, constituents called her the “raccoon lady” because she’d helped so many of them deal with unwanted vermin.

She led Reynolds Brown’s office as chief of staff and then, in 2019, when the Council woman decided not to seek reelection, Gilmore Richardson ran herself, becoming one of two nonincumbents to win an at-large seat. When she sought reelection this year, she was supported by the Democratic Party, business groups, and progressive organizations.

Gilmore Richardson said in an interview that while she is entering only her second term, she has more experience in City Hall than nearly all of her colleagues.

“For me, I don’t want to think about being the youngest. I don’t want to think about being the first at-large,” she said. “I want to think about using my experience in its totality here in Council, 24 years, to the advantage of the city and to help move our city forward and to help move our Council forward.”

Reynolds Brown said her protege’s success shows the value of coaching young people. But she added: “No one gives you leadership. She’s earned the opportunity.”

Gilmore Richardson will join Council’s leadership team at a time of significant turnover in City Hall.

Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker takes office next week, and all 17 Council members will be sworn in for four-year terms. The body will be the most inexperienced it has been in decades, with two-thirds of its members entering either their first or second terms.

» READ MORE: Philly City Council is entering a new era with lots of turnover, more progressive power, and new leadership

Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson is expected to be voted Council president, the city’s top legislative role. He will succeed outgoing president Darrell L. Clarke, who led the chamber for 12 years and did not seek reelection. Councilmembers Isaiah Thomas and Cindy Bass are expected to be elected Council’s whip and deputy whip, respectively.

» READ MORE: From the ‘loudest mouth’ to Council president: Darrell Clarke reflects on his career in Philly politics

As the Democratic majority leader, Gilmore Richardson will be a member of every standing committee and will work closely alongside Johnson to appoint members to committees. She and Johnson know one another well — their Council offices are next door to each other.

Gilmore Richardson will succeed current majority leader Curtis Jones Jr., who unsuccessfully campaigned for Council president. That left an opening for Gilmore Richardson to start amassing support to become majority leader over the summer, and by late September, she’d garnered enough pledges from Democratic colleagues to lock up the spot.

But there was a moment when she was scared she’d lose it.

Shortly after Gilmore Richardson had gathered eight signatures on her “blue backer” — a piece of cardstock used to gather cosponsors for legislation or support for a leadership role — someone broke into her car. They took her purse, her wallet, and a pile of papers, the blue backer included.

Gilmore Richardson said she worried that asking members for their signatures again could cause them to reconsider. She’s deeply spiritual and the daughter of a pastor, so she spent the night praying: “God, please allow me to find my papers.”

The next day, she said, a close friend called: She’d found the documents tossed along the side of the road on City Avenue. The papers were wet, but the signatures intact.

“And that’s the blue backer that I’ll use to be sworn in as majority leader,” Gilmore Richardson said. “So that’s a lesson in, what God has for you is for you. Nobody can take it from you.”

Gilmore Richardson thought her experience in City Hall made her well prepared to be a member of Council. She was policy-oriented and knew she wanted to advance legislation on workforce development, the environment and sustainability, and on shoring up the city’s cash reserves.

But nothing could have prepared her for how her first year played out — mostly on Microsoft Teams. Less than three months after she was sworn in, the COVID-19 pandemic meant the city was shut down and Council conducted business virtually. Members didn’t return to in-person meetings until fall 2022.

“I was so used to being in City Hall. I grew up in City Hall,” she said. “Suddenly you’re virtual, you’re home, and I found it very difficult to negotiate a budget from home. … We were the first virtual Council members, and we had to be. But we were able to get the work done.”

Through her first term, Gilmore Richardson had about two dozen bills passed, including an amendment to the city’s Home Rule Charter that changes how the city deposits cash into its rainy day fund. She also championed legislation reducing the city’s wage tax, adjusting the youth curfew, regulating stores that sell drug paraphernalia, and addressing so-called tangled titles.

Gilmore Richardson said that her priority as majority leader is to first assist colleagues, especially new members, with transitioning into new roles or committee assignments.

As for her future, some in the city’s political class have floated Gilmore Richardson’s name for higher office. Reynolds Brown said “anything she wants to do, the world is her oyster, because she’s going to show up ready and prepared.”

Asked about her political ambitions, Gilmore Richardson said her only goal is “to be of service to this city to the best of my ability.”

“My life is led by and directed by God,” she said. “Wherever God leads me and takes me, that’s where I’m willing to go.”