Philly mayoral candidate Helen Gym’s first TV ad is about public safety and her record on City Council

Mayoral candidate Helen Gym pledges to issue a state of emergency to address crime and fix Philadelphia’s 911 system in her campaign’s first television commercial, set to start airing this week.

Gym, a former City Council member, is the seventh candidate in the field of 11 Democratic mayoral contenders to air TV ads ahead of the May 16 primary election. The ad reinforces the role that public safety is playing in the mayoral campaign, as crime is widely seen as the No. 1 issue defining the race.

In the commercial, Gym says that “too many calls for help go unanswered” in the city and that “safety is a whole city mission.” She emphasizes her plan to establish “school-safety zones.” The ad also touts her work on City Council, including that she “[kept] families in their homes,” a reference to legislation she championed that curbed evictions in the city.

The ad represents the first time Gym’s campaign has spent big on media. Until this week, Gym had been the only top-tier candidate who had not yet purchased television advertising, an expensive but effective way for campaigns to reach voters.

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Former Councilmember Allan Domb and businessman Jeff Brown, both of whom are self-funding their campaigns, have been running television commercials for more than three months. Several other candidates who have raised less money than Gym began running commercials last month.

Some campaigns choose to save as much money as they can until the final weeks before the primary so their advertising can influence undecided voters or residents who are just tuning in.

Gym’s campaign has also benefited from an independent expenditure group, also known as a super PAC, that is supporting her candidacy and is largely funded by the American Federation of Teachers. The group, called Fighting Together for Philadelphia, has spent more than $500,000 airing ads on Gym’s behalf since last month.

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Besides Domb, who has poured $7 million of his personal wealth into his campaign, Gym has the most money in the bank of any candidate heading into the homestretch. Her campaign this week reported having $1.4 million on hand.

Gym’s campaign spent about $127,000 to run the commercials on broadcast television and cable networks this week, according to the media tracking firm Ad Impact. Candidates generally try to maintain a presence on television through Election Day once they begin airing advertising.

The winner of the Democratic primary is well positioned to win the general election, given Philadelphia’s heavily Democratic electorate.