Three Philly mayoral candidates voted at the same polling place — at the same time

Call it the Delancey Street primary.

Three candidates for Philadelphia mayor showed up Tuesday morning at about the same time just after 8 a.m. to cast their ballots — at the same polling place.

Jeff Brown, Allan Domb, and Rebecca Rhynhart — all seeking the Democratic nomination in the heated race for mayor — each live in the city’s 8th Ward, which is in Rittenhouse Square (and endorsed Rhynhart). None of the candidates interacted outside the Tenth Presbyterian Church at 17th and Delancey streets.

But they absolutely saw one another.

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Domb arrived first along with his rescue dog, Allie, who wore a blue T-shirt reading: “Vote for my dad Allan Domb.” He said the final sprint ahead of Election Day has been intense, but he said “it’s been fun.”

”People said, ‘Aren’t you exhausted?’” he said. “I said ‘No, I’m used to working like this.’ And I would apply that same work ethic as mayor.”

Domb cast his ballot inside the church, and while he was inside, his rival, Brown, showed up alongside family, campaign staff, and top supporters. As Brown was posing for a photo with his family, Domb walked out of the polling place directly by him.

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Suffice it to say the two have had a complicated relationship — Domb funded a barrage of attack ads against Brown — and did not say hello.

Brown, who has polled near the bottom of the top tier of candidates over the last few weeks, said he feels confident heading into election day and thinks “we’re going to surprise people.”

He said that even after a tough campaign, he didn’t regret throwing his hat in the ring.

”I did it for the people. I mean, I get charged up by the people,” Brown said. “Every day I’ve gotten up and I’ve decided to meet them. We’ve hugged each other. I feel their pain, and I’m here to help them if I win this election or if I don’t win this election.”

After Brown cast his ballot, he stood on the sidewalk outside the church and took more photos with supporters. As he was doing so, Rhynhart came walking down the same sidewalk along with her husband and 13-year-old daughter, Julia. Rhynhart and Brown, too, didn’t acknowledge one another.

Rhynhart, who has been polling near the top of the pack over the last several weeks, said she felt a deep sense of hope heading into the day, saying: “I have felt this momentum across neighborhoods, that people really want a good leader. They want change.”

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Along with her daughter, Rhynhart — who could become the first female mayor in city history — cast her ballot. She said that after 99 male mayors, “it’s more than time to have a woman mayor of the city, to lead with both courage and compassion, the way that women do.”

Julia — whose purple T-shirt matched her mother’s dress — said she’s excited, too.

”She’s worked very hard for a lot of months,” Julia said. “And now the day is finally here.”

Two other top candidates also cast ballots this morning, but with significantly less tension. Helen Gym, who also lives in the 8th Ward but votes at the Moore College of Art and Design on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, was the first person to cast a ballot at her polling location just after 7 a.m.

Gym said afterward that casting her vote was just part of a “journey over the last two decades.” Like each of the top candidates, Gym has a packed schedule for the day and will jet across the city talking to voters and making her last-minute pitch.

“Election day is all about living in the moment,” she said. “You kind of let all these things go, and you’re just really enjoying the city. You’re enjoying the fact that people are paying attention, that people have big dreams.”

Cherelle Parker, who hails from Northwest Philadelphia, voted just after 8:30 a.m. at Masjidullah Mosque in West Oak Lane. Parker, a former city councilmember and state representative, voted with her 10-year-old son Langston, who got his “I voted,” sticker afterward, playfully slapping it onto his forehead.

U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans and former City Councilmember Marian Tasco also came to the polls to support Parker. Both had been longtime political mentors who endorsed her campaign.

Parker, who lost much of her family at a young age, views Tasco and Evans as parental figures.

”These are the people that taught me how to serve,” she said.

Inquirer staff writers Julia Terruso and Sean Collins Walsh contributed.