This 29-year-old candidate could become Philadelphia’s only GOP state senator. But the city’s party isn’t standing behind him.

In a Northeast Philadelphia state Senate district that Democrats have held since the turn of the millennium, Republicans think a 29-year-old — who is not backed by the city’s GOP — has a chance at swaying the race.

Pennsylvania’s 5th District Senate seat is held by Democratic State Sen. Jimmy Dillon, a former Notre Dame point guard who runs basketball academies in the city. As a political newcomer, Dillon, 45, won a special election in 2022 to fill the remainder of former Sen. John Sabatina Jr.’s term after he left to serve on Common Pleas Court.

Dillon is running against Joe Picozzi, a Georgetown University graduate who previously worked on Capitol Hill as a staffer for former House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.).

Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in Philadelphia by 7-1, and few are suggesting that Dillon does not have a clear path to victory, even in the redder Northeast. There are more than 81,000 registered Democrats in the 5th District, compared with nearly 45,000 Republicans and just over 19,000 unaffiliated voters.

Still, GOP ward leaders say Picozzi — a TikTok-savvy moderate with an anti-crime bent — is running an impressive ground game in an effort that is receiving financial support from state Republicans to flip control of an up-for-grabs seat and maintain their grip on the Senate.

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Democrats, too, acknowledge the 5th District’s potential to swing, especially in a contested election year where a presidential race will drive voters to the polls.

“Northeast Philadelphia, much like Bucks County, is the epicenter of where the battle is happening,” said Brian Eddis, the Democratic leader of the 63rd Ward, located in the 5th District.

“People might be registered Democrat, they might be registered Republican, but they really vote based off the individual issues that they typically stand for,” Eddis said.

Should Picozzi win, he would become the only Republican state senator within Philadelphia city limits.

But Picozzi’s candidacy is unusual in that he does not come endorsed by the Republican Party of Philadelphia, stirring confusion among some GOP ward leaders who see the race as competitive.

“As Republican voters come to vote in November, the ballot will have [Donald] Trump at the top … and when you get to that Senate race, it‘s going to be blank,” one GOP ward leader, who requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation, said in reference to the visibility of party endorsements. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Vince Fenerty, chairman of the Philadelphia GOP committee, did not return a request for comment.

Picozzi‘s name does not appear on the city committee’s website, while other candidates like State Rep. Martina White, also of the Northeast, are endorsed.

In contrast, Harrisburg Republicans have not been shy in their support for Picozzi.

“Since Joe Picozzi got in the race early this year, he made talking to voters about their concerns his priority,” said Michael Straw, communications director for the Pennsylvania Senate Republican Campaign Committee, which is overseen by Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward, the chamber’s top conservative.

“… Northeast Philly is sick of the status quo. They want someone who will focus on their concerns, like out-of-control inflation and rising crime,” Straw said. “That’s why Joe has continued to gain momentum.”

For Picozzi’s part, campaign spokesperson Gianni Matteo said he could not speak to the reason that the city committee had forgone an endorsement.

But Matteo called the state GOP’s support a “great opportunity” for the party to support a “new type of Republican.”

“Often people think that Republicans are people arguing about culture war issues … constantly looking back in time,” Matteo said. “Part of Joe Picozzi‘s run for state Senate is the fact that it’s this new, dynamic brand of conservatism that values urban areas. They’re the foundries of the future.”

The race has not been without mudslinging.

Dillon came under fire last month after decade-old social media posts resurfaced with racist and homophobic language. Dillon had access to the account, which is dedicated to his Hoops 24-7 Basketball Academy, and sometimes posted in the first person on the page.

However, the Democrat’s team suggested it was coaching staff who had posted the remarks, not Dillon, and Dillon said the posts “don’t reflect my values.”

Picozzi, meanwhile, has faced questions over his former leadership position in Georgetown’s Delta Phi Epsilon foreign service fraternity, a nonprofit whose longtime officer, Terrence Boyle, was sued by the D.C. Attorney General for using charitable funds for his own benefit in the 1990s.

In mailers from the Picozzi campaign, viewed by The Inquirer, bulleted items stated that Picozzi only became the fraternity’s president two years after the suit was filed, and that the misconduct listed within it occurred decades before he arrived on campus.

Many Democrats in the district, including 57th Ward leader Patrick Parkinson, are not convinced that Dillon’s seat is at risk.

“I guess if they‘re thinking that if Trump’s at the top of the ticket, they have a shot,” Parkinson said of GOP hopefuls. “But when you take a look at the party in Northeast Philly, we’ve kind of been more united than ever.”

Dillon comes endorsed by a handful of labor unions — prevalent political forces in the Northeast — including chapters of the AFL-CIO, AFSCME, and SEIU, as well as Planned Parenthood of Pennsylvania.

“I think they‘re wasting money,” Parkinson said of state Republicans‘ spending on Picozzi. “Which is good, because it’s taking away from other areas of the state where they could possibly win.”