Mayor Jim Kenney Will Be Working With New Councilmembers, City Officials After Historic Pennsylvania Primary

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney will be working with new councilmembers and city officials. He was among the big winners in the Pennsylvania primary Tuesday night.

Primary election night proved to be quite interesting for some Philadelphia candidates from celebrations to the sting of defeat. It was a night filled with historic wins and shocking losses.

Kenney coasted to an easy victory over his opponents in the Philadelphia mayoral primary. That win virtually assured him four more years in office heading into November's general election. He will face Republican Billy Ciancaglini.

"Serving as your mayor has been the greatest honor of my life," Kenney said.

While Kenney's win was no surprise, a monumental upset took place in the  3rd City Council District with longtime political powerhouse Jannie Blackwell losing to newcomer Jamie Gauthier.

Blackwell has held the seat since 1992, a seat she took over from her husband who was first elected in 1974.

Gauthier, a former director of the Sustainable Business Network, ran a grassroots campaign that ended a 45-year reign of Blackwell representation in West Philadelphia.

"I feel like this is a victory for the people of the 3rd District," Gauthier said. "They overwhelmingly voted for change today."

While most of the city council incumbents held onto their seats, it was a close race in the 7th District with Maria Quinones-Sanchez eking out a win over Angel Cruz.

The crowded at-large council races proved to be the most contested with incumbent David Oh gaining just 9% of the vote, coming in fifth place among GOP primary candidates.

In the most historic win of the night, Rochelle Bilal is poised to become the first female sheriff in Philadelphia. She's a 27-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department.

"It's just another glass ceiling broken here in the city to me," Bilal said. "That means it allows other women to decide to run for this position and win."

Bilal will take over the office from embattled Sheriff Jewel Williams, who faces three sexual harassment lawsuits. Williams denies the allegations.

Bilal says she's set on restoring faith in the office.

"Make sure that people working there feel comfortable coming to work without feeling harassed," she said. "To make sure that atmosphere that is toxic at this point, that people can come to work and do their jobs."

She's set to take office in January.

The general election is Nov. 5 when many of the candidates are expected to solidify their win.

• Philadelphia