Council member Jamie Gauthier coasts to victory in contested 3rd District race

There will be no repeat upset in Philadelphia City Council’s 3rd District this year. Jamie Gauthier, the incumbent Democrat, easily secured a second term Tuesday, defeating challenger Jabari Jones.

Gauthier surprised the city’s Democratic establishment in 2019, defeating in that year’s primary Jannie Blackwell, who had held the West Philadelphia council seat for nearly three decades.

Jones, the former head of the West Philadelphia Corridor Collaborative, took a circuitous route to the ballot Tuesday.

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He first challenged Gauthier in the Democratic primary, running as a more politically moderate option while promising to be tough on crime and friendly to development. But he withdrew from that race in March after voters filed a legal challenge claiming that more than half of the signatures he filed on nomination petitions were defective.

Jones then reentered the race in August, running in the general election from a political party he called “West is Best.”

Some of the same voters who filed the primary challenge, including two Democratic City Committee members from the district, again challenged his petitions for the general election.

That effort ended a few days later when it became clear the challengers had not met the deadline to deliver their documents to the city’s Board of Elections.

Gauthier’s campaign at the time called that “unfortunate,” suggesting that Jones never met the basic requirements to get on the ballot.

Gauthier has proven to be one of Council’s most progressive members, emphasizing affordable housing in a district where gentrification has long caused economic stress.

Jones made public safety the central focus for his campaign and has called on Council to spend more on policing, rather than violence-prevention programs.

He served until recently as chair of the Coalition for Safety & Equitable Growth, a super PAC funded by Jeff Yass, a conservative megadonor and Pennsylvania’s richest man. That PAC ran negative ads attempting to influence May’s primary election for mayor.

Gauthier’s campaign finance reports showed the power of incumbency, even after only one term. She started the year with more than $190,000 in the bank and raised another $320,401 from January to Oct. 23.

That included $12,600 donations — the maximum allowed under the city’s campaign finance limits — from unions representing laborers, building workers, plumbers, sprinkler fitters and carpenters.

Jones raised $53,540 by Oct. 23 with half of that — $26,800 — coming out of his own pocket.