A Philly progressive operative is jumping into the 2023 City Council at-large race

Amanda McIllmurray, the cofounder and former political director for the progressive group Reclaim Philadelphia, is jumping into the race for City Council at-large next year.

Flanked by allies in FDR Park in South Philly on Saturday afternoon, McIllmurray touted her upbringing in a Northeast Philly union household, pitching a campaign that would orbit around labor, affordable housing, and public safety.

“I’m very much working to build a coalition between labor, progressives, and working-class people across the city,” said McIllmurray, who turned 30 the day before launching her campaign.

McIllmurray’s campaign launch is a likely sigh of relief for at least one lawmaker: She filed paperwork with the city indicating she would challenge 1st District Councilmember Mark Squilla but ultimately decided on running for one of Council’s seven at-large seats, citing a desire to craft policy citywide rather than at the district level.

McIllmurray told The Inquirer she would run on a familiar progressive wish list, ranging from guaranteed housing to rent control to universal family care. McIllmurray said she hopes to add to the leftward blitz on City Hall in recent years, building on policy like the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.

On public safety, McIllmurray avoided mention of the controversial Defund the Police movement but said she would campaign on investing in parks, recreation centers, and antiviolence programs instead of “throwing police at the problem after violence happens.”

“We’re constantly sold this lie that throwing people in prison keeps us safe, but if that were true, Philly would be the safest city in the world,” she said.

While the wide-open mayoral race has already kicked into high gear, McIllmurray’s campaign announcement is among the first in what could be a crowded at-large contest.

On the Democratic side, in addition to incumbents Isaiah Thomas and Katherine Gilmore Richardson, newly sworn-in Councilmember Jimmy Harrity, who won a special election last month, is intending to run for a full term. Other candidates who have announced campaigns include former Council aide Eryn Santamoor; former Deputy Mayor Nina Ahmad; Michael Galvan, a former staffer in Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration; and Terrill Haigler, a social media-famous sanitation worker.

Council has seen a year of high turnover, beginning in January with the departure of convicted Councilmember Bobby Henon and ending with a string of high-profile resignations from lawmakers who have their sights set on the mayor’s office.

Four Democrats were sworn into office in late November to fill vacancies left by Derek Green, Cherelle Parker, Maria Quiñones Sánchez, and Allan Domb, who all resigned to run for mayor. A day after the full complement returned to Council’s chambers, Councilmember Helen Gym also resigned to jump into the mayoral race, and Republican David Oh is also on the rumored list of contenders.

The last at-large contest in 2019 was a Super Smash Brothers-esque battle royal, with more than 30 Democratic and Republican candidates competing on the ballot. That year also proved to be a boon for the city’s left, with the election of the first-ever Working Families Party candidate to Council in Kendra Brooks, among other significant victories in the state legislature.

McIllmurray was a key force behind many of those victories as the former political director of Reclaim. (She resigned from the organization earlier this year.)

In 2016, McIllmurray was working as a nanny, a law firm clerk, and a softball umpire when she got involved with Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. When Sanders lost the nomination, McIllmurray and other local Bernie acolytes formed Reclaim as a way to channel the energy into local races.

In the six years since, the outfit has become a respected kingmaker whose endorsement is sought after by both moderate and self-styled progressive candidates. Reclaim helped lift District Attorney Larry Krasner in 2017 and has since expanded its political footprint into state legislative races.

The kickoff event came with endorsements from Krasner, State Sen. Nikil Saval, State Rep. Rick Krajewski, and State Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler — Reclaim-endorsed members of the city’s progressive wing who won elections over more moderate Democratic challengers in recent years.

“[McIllmurray] is not afraid to be on the frontlines,” Krajewski said in a statement. “She understands politics is a contact sport and will have our backs when it’s time to hit the streets.”

Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this article.