The key to Cherelle Parker’s success? Rejecting the Democrats’ progressive wing.
On crime and education, Parker successfully painted herself not just as a political moderate, but as a conservative Democrat.
Black voters, especially those living in low-income neighborhoods, propelled Cherelle Parker to victory in the Democratic primary for mayor of Philadelphia. According to an Inquirer analysis, majority-Black precincts gave nearly 56% of their vote to Parker.
It can be easy to dismiss Parker’s win as politics as usual in Philly. She is, after all, “the consummate insider” of the Democratic establishment in the city.
Sure, Parker’s been around a long time. But neither of Philly’s popular former mayors, Michael Nutter and John F. Street, endorsed her. Instead, they threw their weight behind Rebecca Rhynhart — who leaned toward the progressive wing of her party — albeit less so than Helen Gym, who had proclaimed socialists Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on her side.
And the messaging from both Rhynhart and Gym played well with liberal wealthy white elites, 74% of whom voted for either Rhynhart or Gym. In recent elections, liberal wealthy white people seem to be trending toward socialist candidates, perhaps because they usually get to be the ones who benefit most from socialist systems.
Black voters, according to recent surveys, are typically motivated by different factors. A 2022 poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation and theGrio found that the top priorities of many Black voters are economic opportunity, a better life for their kids, and more cops on the beat. Only 17% of Black voters who responded to the survey wanted to decrease funding for the police. Here in Philadelphia, a Lenfest Institute for Journalism/SSRS poll showed that nearly 75% of Black respondents said the city needs more police officers.
And a May poll done by Democrats for Education Reform shows that Black parents overwhelmingly support school choice as the means to a massive overhaul of American public education. While Parker didn’t run on this platform, she is now allied with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who, during the campaign, signaled his support for school choice.
To be sure, no group of voters is monolithic. But it would be unwise — and unfair — to discount the survey data when analyzing Parker’s win. No, Parker wasn’t particularly substantive on policy specifics, but neither was anyone else in the Democratic primary. Also, Parker is charismatic and comes across as a pugilist — which is how most Philadelphians see themselves. Most importantly, Parker successfully painted herself not just as a political moderate, but as a conservative Democrat. She boldly campaigned in opposition to ideas warmly embraced by the extreme left flank of her party.
Positioning herself as the tough-on-crime candidate, Parker ran on a platform of expanding law enforcement, including her signature plan to add 300 police officers to the force. She also rejected supervised injection sites, pushing back against politicians like Gym (who signaled support) and Rhynhart (who hadn’t ruled them out).
Parker demonstrated some humility by changing her mind on the divisive issue of stop-and-frisk arrests, especially as a means to combat the current gun violence epidemic. As Tuesday’s vote tally indicates, the hollow pleas to “defund the police” still fall on deaf ears, especially those of Black voters whose communities continue to be disproportionately affected by crime.
Parker championed enhancing economic opportunity. She sees homeownership and job development as Philly’s pathway to the middle class. To do so, Parker advocated for a business-friendly environment that “encourages growth by cutting through the red tape and impediments to doing business in the city.”
A former teacher, Parker also did something that drew the ire of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (who endorsed Gym): she campaigned on year-round schooling and on-the-job vocational training for young people. Here’s hoping she will challenge the established educational order that continues to marginalize people of color and traps kids in bad schools.
Like most politicians who have been around for ages (looking at you, Gov. Shapiro), Parker knows how to play the political game and adapt to the times. If she becomes the first female mayor of Philadelphia, she’ll generate a ton of national media — especially if she continues to vocally disavow the progressive tilt of her party.
To buck that trend, she’ll have to govern as she ran: as a moderate (or even conservative) Democrat. But first, she must win in November.