The election hangover edition | 100th Mayor Newsletter
We finally have a Democratic nominee for mayor. Here’s a breakdown of who else had a good night — and a not-so-great one.
We spent the last five months telling you that the race for the Democratic nomination for Philly mayor was neck-and-neck between at least five candidates. Even up through the final days of the campaign, we were like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
But last week, former City Councilmember Cherelle Parker won the primary — and it wasn’t close.
Today we’ll talk about whose stock went up (and down) after this election, we’ll dive into how Parker pulled off a win, and we’ll preview one of her most notable proposals.
Programming note: This is our last newsletter until the fall, when we’ll be back in your inbox with analysis about the general election. What’s one thing you’d like to see us take on when we bring our newsletter back this fall? Email us back.
In the meantime, you can find our coverage in The Inquirer’s free morning newsletter.
— Anna Orso and Sean Collins Walsh
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Who gained clout this election (and who lost it)
Yes, on the Democratic side of the mayoral primary there was one actual winner and eight actual losers. But we can have more fun than that. Here’s a breakdown of who else had a good night — and who had a not-so-great one.
Stock up
📈 Ryan Boyer and the building trades: John J. Dougherty, the former leader of the Philadelphia building trades unions who backed Jim Kenney in 2015, apparently wasn’t the only labor leader who could anoint a mayor. After Dougherty got into some, eh, trouble, he was replaced by Ryan Boyer, a longtime ally of Parker’s who convinced the members of his coalition to get behind her. They poured cash into her campaign and a super PAC boosting it, plus knocked on doors in the final stretch.
📈 The owners of the 76ers: Boyer’s good fortune has a knock-on effect for the Sixers’ hopes of building an arena in Center City. That’s because the building trades — eyeing the 9,000 construction jobs the project could create — are big fans of the proposal. Parker hasn’t said explicitly that she’s in favor of the arena. But she’s spoken positively about it, and it’s hard to imagine her crossing her most significant political benefactor.
📈 Bob Brady and the Democratic establishment: It was a great night for the Democratic City Committee. Council incumbents won out, and the party’s not-quite-endorsed-but-preferred pick for mayor prevailed. Chairman Brady put out a spicy statement to those who have written off the party as a “dinosaur no longer relevant,” saying “the dinosaur roared.” Winning records aside, voter turnout among Democrats was about 30%. And that’s nothing to brag about.
📈 Political consultants’ savings accounts: This was only the second mayoral election in the super PAC era, meaning outside groups could spend unlimited amounts to boost or bury candidates. Every top candidate either self-funded or was supported by a super PAC. If you’re worried about money in politics, the most expensive mayoral campaign in Philly history is probably not making you feel a lot better.
Stock down
📉 Rich guys: Allan Domb put more than $10 million into his campaign and Jeff Brown put more than $4 million into his, and they finished... in fourth and fifth place, respectively. The only people they beat out had not raised enough money or amassed enough name recognition to be viable candidates. Nice guys don’t always finish last, but in this case, rich guys did.
📉 Progressives: While Rebecca Rhynhart may have pulled support from some progressive voters, Helen Gym was the clear pick of the movement. She was backed by every progressive politician in the city, lefty unions and organizations, and Bernie Sanders. The national media called her a star on the rise. And then she came in third. 🔑 On top of that, progressives didn’t add much left-leaning firepower to City Council. The only candidates who won and were endorsed by progressive groups were also endorsed by the Democratic City Committee.
📉 Philly Political Twitter: If you spent any time during the campaign in the insular and angry corner of Twitter dedicated to Philly politics, you’d have thought the race was a boxing match between Gym and Rhynhart. Of all the top candidates, Parker was probably the least active on the platform and had far fewer followers than her rivals. It’s almost like Twitter isn’t representative of much of anything.
💥 The key takeaway: It was a good night for establishment moderates, and a not-great night for progressives. But the city’s leftists say their movement is “here for the long haul.” 🔑
Spotlight on: Cherelle Parker’s year-round school plan
Parker has proposed implementing year-round schooling — and it could become a reality. The superintendent will present his strategic plan on Thursday, and it’s set to include a year-round pilot.
Our colleague Kristen A. Graham reports that the idea isn’t new to Philadelphia. From 2000 to 2004, students at Grover Washington Jr. Middle School in Olney attended school for 180 days spread throughout the year. A teacher told The Inquirer there was “less learning loss” and that he would “go back to a year-round schedule in a second.”
But the obstacles are huge. Many of the district’s buildings don’t have central A/C, and the teachers’ union would have to be on board with a big schedule shift. Explore more of the pros and cons.
Data Dive: How Cherelle Parker won the primary
Our colleagues on The Inquirer’s data team spent days crunching numbers (us writers aren’t known for our math skills), and they came up with four takeaways on how Parker won:
While some candidates had a lane, Parker formed a coalition of Black, Latino, and lower-income voters. Philly Democrats fall into six broad clusters, based on an algorithmic analysis, and Parker grabbed three of those groups. The other three split.
The racial split was really stark. Parker was a distant fourth place in predominately white neighborhoods.
Her win was anchored in the Northwest — where she’s from — but Parker also performed well in Northeast Philadelphia, and pulled about 40% of the vote in seven lower Northeast wards. 🔑
Neighborhoods most affected by gun violence went for Parker. Areas with the highest concentrations of shootings, particularly parts of North and West Philadelphia, handed her roughly half their votes.
We have a lot more maps, graphs, and analysis about how Parker did with Philadelphia’s different voters and where her opponents found support. Dive into the charts with us.
What we’re reading
Parker would be the first mayor to have previously served in Harrisburg since 1972, and her colleagues in the capitol say that matters a lot.
We got a deep look inside Parker’s winning campaign. Like, when-their-first-Zoom-meeting-was deep. Political junkies will love this one. 🔑
Philly’s next leaders are going inherit a city that feels like it’s at a turning point. Some see that as daunting. Others say it’s an opportunity.
🧠 Trivia time 🧠
Question: If she prevails in November, Cherelle Parker would be the first female mayor in Philadelphia history. Just one other major American city has never elected a woman to the job. Which one is it?
A) Los Angeles
B) Dallas
C) New York City
D) Boston
Find out if you know the answer. 🔑
Scenes from the campaign trail
On Election Day, Parker stood in a voting booth at the Masjidullah Mosque along with her 10-year-old son, Langston, who was named after the Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes.
We’re so grateful that you spent time with us through this wild election season. We’re going to get some rest and then gear up for November. Hope you’ve got a great summer ahead of you. Sean is planning to do some camping in California. Anna is tying the knot. Cheers. ☀️
— Anna Orso and Sean Collins Walsh