What is Philly’s resign-to-run rule?

When looking for a new job, it’s best not to quit your old one until you’ve lined up the new gig, right? Well, for public office holders or city employees, that’s not how it always works — especially in Philadelphia.

In Philly, if an elected official or government employee wants to run for public office, they have to resign first. It’s a rule that’s been in the city’s home charter — basically Philly’s city constitution — since 1951 and known as the “resign-to-run” rule.

Mayor Jim Kenney resigned from his city council position in 2015 before he was elected Philadelphia’s mayor that same year. So did former city council member Ed Neilson when he ran for the state house in 2015.

According to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter: “No officer or employee of the City, except elected officers running for re-election, shall be a candidate for nomination or election to any public office unless he shall have first resigned from his then office or employment.”

If you work for the City of Philadelphia or hold an elected position in city government, you have to quit your job first in order to run for another public office. The only exception is if you are an elected official running for re-election. Simple as that.

Philly has the resign-to-run rule because an elected official or employee in the city government is in a position to be able to influence government policy or employees under their supervision, according to the city’s home charter.

It’s also hard to do two jobs at once. Being an elected official with duties and responsibilities while at the same time campaigning across the city for public office would keep someone pretty busy. It may even affect their ability to do a good job in the public office or position they were hired to do.

By the way, resign-to-run laws aren’t unique to Philly. Five states have resign-to-run laws for public office holders: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, and Texas.

Advocates of resign-to-run laws say that elected officials — who are voted in by citizens to run the city government — shouldn’t be using their paid time to look for a new job in another public office. For The Inquirer’s opinion section, Kyle Sammin wrote, “This is a good rule. It provides that officials’ constituents receive a full day’s work for a full day’s pay.”