David Oh did better than any other GOP mayoral candidate in 20 years. But he didn’t come close to winning.

Republican David Oh appears to have won about 25% of votes in the mayor’s race, according to results that were still being finalized Wednesday evening.

That would be the best result for a Republican since Sam Katz won more than 40% of the vote in his campaigns against then-Mayor John F. Street in 1999 and 2003. But it isn’t enough to raise questions on whether Democrat Cherelle Parker has an electoral mandate or to give the Philly GOP hope that it has found a political formula that could lead it out of the woods.

» READ MORE: Democrat Cherelle Parker will become Philadelphia’s first female mayor

Winning almost 1 in 4 votes would be notably better than Mayor Jim Kenney’s GOP opponents in 2015 and 2019. Neither Melissa Murray Bailey nor Billy Ciancaglini cracked 20%.

But it’s only slightly better than Karen Brown did in 2011 when she won about 22% running against former Mayor Michael A. Nutter, who was seeking reelection.

Oh had hoped his unique coalition of backers would shake up the electoral math. In his Council campaigns, Oh won votes in immigrant communities and diverse neighborhoods outside the GOP strongholds in the Northeast and South Philly, allowing him to win three elections without the support of his own party leaders.

But he fell well short of making the mayor’s race competitive, and with a few exceptions — such as winning the precinct that includes Chinatown — he ran strongest in traditional GOP turf.

» READ MORE: David Oh isn’t a typical Republican. He likes it that way.

Oh appears to have won nine of the city’s 66 wards, a respectable showing for a Republican. Eight are in the Northeast, and one is in South Philly.

In his concession speech Tuesday night, Oh said he ran in part because he believed that there was little else he could do on City Council after almost three terms and because he wanted voters to have a real choice on the November ballot.

“I didn’t feel that I was being effective after 11 years, and I was starting to recycle bills, and so I thought the best thing I could do is to offer the voters a choice,” Oh told supporters at the Emperor Restaurant in Northeast Philadelphia. “We can do things to improve this city, but not if we’re afraid, and not if we’re afraid to lose. Don’t be afraid to lose. Be afraid not to try.”