A West Philly City Council candidate is facing a challenge to his eligibility for the primary ballot

A West Philadelphia City Council candidate in one of the city’s most competitive races is facing a serious challenge to nominating petitions that he submitted to get on the Democratic primary ballot, with voters contending that more than half of the signatures he filed have defects.

Three voters who live in the 3rd Council District submitted a legal filing Monday in the Court of Common Pleas and objected to more than 470 signatures submitted by Jabari K. Jones, a business community advocate who is challenging incumbent Councilmember Jamie Gauthier for the Democratic nomination.

Candidates for the city’s district Council races must submit at least 750 petition signatures in order to qualify for the ballot. Jones filed about 940 signatures with the city by last week’s deadline, meaning a successful challenge could endanger his candidacy. A third candidate who recently declared in that West Philadelphia district race is also facing a challenge to his petitions.

Objecting to petitions is a time-honored tradition in Philadelphia politics, wherein voters — often enlisted by rival campaigns — can file to try to get a candidate off the ballot before the race even begins in earnest. The challenges, which are due by the end of the day Tuesday, typically see varying levels of success.

The filing against Jones says hundreds of signatures are defective, with the challengers claiming many were written by people who don’t live in the district or by residents who are not registered Democrats. The challenge was filed by Rikeyah Lindsay, Ilya Knizhnik, and Kanita Mote, who are all listed as Democratic committeepeople.

Jones declined to comment Monday.

The Council race in the 3rd District, which stretches from Cobbs Creek to University City, could be one of the more competitive races in the city. The winner of the May 16 primary is all but certain to win the general election this fall, given that the district leans heavily Democratic.

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Gauthier, a progressive who four years ago unseated a political dynasty in the Democratic primary, is now running for her second term. Jones, the head of a coalition of small businesses and entrepreneurs, is running as a tough-on-crime moderate.

A source close to Jones’ campaign said he intends to challenge Gauthier’s candidacy, but no such objection was filed as of Monday afternoon.

Also running is Raymond Grant, who was not initially on the city’s list of candidates but successfully filed in the Court of Common Pleas to be added. He wrote in court papers that he is attempting to be listed on the ballot by his religious name, Mustafa Majeed, and filed an affidavit to do so — but he wasn’t able to get it notarized before last week’s filing deadline.

Lindsay, Knizhnik, and Mote also challenged Grant’s petitions, writing in court papers that nearly all of the signatures listed were defective.

Grant listed his occupation as “community activist” on his paperwork. In 2018, Grant — named as Majeed — appeared in a New York Times article advocating on behalf of Bill Cosby, the comedian from Philadelphia who was convicted of sexual assault. Cosby was released from prison in 2021 after his conviction was overturned by the state Supreme Court.

Grant couldn’t be reached for comment.

Matt Goldfine, Gauthier’s campaign spokesperson, said in a statement that “the only people who tried to run against Councilmember Gauthier are the guy who showed Dr. Oz around West Philly and an apologist for a man convicted of sexual assault.” (Jones saw the former Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz at an event last summer and told The Inquirer he respected him for coming to a heavily Democratic area of the city.)

“Four years of serving the 3rd District and no surprise: Everyone who’s a real Democrat knows she’ll be reelected,” Goldfine said.

Inquirer staff writer Chris Brennan contributed to this article.