Philadelphia mayoral primary 2023: Meet the candidates
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Who's running for mayor of Philadelphia? Primary day is here and the field is crowded with nine Democratic candidates vying for their party's nomination to square off against David Oh, who's running unopposed in the Republican primary.
A nonpartisan poll from the Committee of Seventy shows a statistical tie in the Philadelphia mayoral race, with one in five Democratic voters still being undecided.
Here's a roundup of the Democratic candidates and a brief description of their platforms.
Helen Gym
Gym is one of several former city council members squaring off in the Democratic primary. She's a former teacher and calls herself a longtime community organizer in the city. She landed at City Hall in 2016, where she's been an at-large council member until last year.
Gym has called for a state of emergency on gun violence and championed an expansion of mental health services. But at the center of her campaign is what she calls her "Green New Deal" for schools.
Gym has lined up dozens of endorsements. She has the backing of progressive U.S. Reps. like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Bernie Sanders this weekend.
Rebecca Rhynhart
The former Philadelphia City Controller was a Wall Street executive before returning to Philly to serve under former Mayor Michael Nutter. She worked as his budget director before becoming the first woman elected controller in 2017.
Rhynhart has promised a city-wide emergency on gun violence -- cutting red tape for businesses -- and targeting what she calls the "open-air drug market" in Kensington. And her ideas have drawn some big supporters.
Former Mayors Ed Rendell, John Street and Nutter have all backed Rhynhart's bid.
Allan Domb
Domb is another former city council member running for mayor.
Domb started his own real estate company 40 years ago and has now become one of the city's largest property owners. In 2015, Domb won his city council seat where he served until August last year.
Domb aims to reduce poverty through entrepreneurship with a jobs program. He's also pitched a 10-step community safety plan – and vowed to restore trust in government.
Domb is being backed by former Mayor Bill Green – and the Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors.
Jeff Brown
Brown is the owner of a dozen ShopRite and Fresh Grocer supermarkets across the Philly area. He has served on various boards, including as a former chairman of the Philadelphia Youth Network.
Brown is also the lone candidate with no political experience.
Brown has campaigned on putting 1,500 more police officers on the street and supporting minority entrepreneurs. The FOP endorsed him.
A super PAC that supports Brown agreed not to spend money on influencing the outcome of the primary after the city ethics board sued and won a temporary order. "For A Better Philadelphia" is accused of violating campaign finance laws.
Cherelle Parker
Parker resigned from Philadelphia City Council in September 2022 to run for mayor. Parker represented the Ninth Council District, which covers parts of Northwest and Northeast Philadelphia.
Parker said she will crack down on drug sales in Kensington but came out against a proposed safe injection site in a long Twitter thread after a forum on gun violence. She also wrote she would like to update the Philadelphia Police Department's forensics capabilities and increase the number of body-worn cameras.
Parker's campaign website lists her plans for four issues: safety, education, cleaning and greening Philadelphia and economic opportunity.
Parker's safety plan would include hiring more police officers, both by filing opening vacancies and adding 300 additional foot and bike patrol officers. Parker opposes the idea of defunding the police, according to her website.
James DeLeon
James DeLeon, a former Philadelphia municipal court judge, threw his name into the mayoral race in late November. DeLeon retired as a judge in 2021 after serving 34 years on the bench.
DeLeon is an Army veteran and a former captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He attended West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys and got his Juris Doctor degree from Delaware Law School. His campaign bio lists a full history of his service to his country, court and his family.
DeLeon's campaign website includes eight areas he wants to address as mayor: gun violence, municipal services, education, health care, youth, criminal justice reform, housing and the economy.
DeLeon says on day one, he would appoint a deputy mayor/commissioner of public safety to operate a local incident management system (LIMS) program.
He proposes reforming the education syste with a "school-to-work" curriculum, assessing the PSSA and English and mathematics literacy from kindergarten through 12th grade.
He advocates for citywide rent control and rent-to-own affordable housing programs for first-time home buyers.
Delscia Gray
Little is known about Delscia Gray, who has the fifth ballot position in the mayoral race.
She didn't respond to a survey from the Committee of Seventy, which collected responses from 10 other candidates.
We also couldn't locate a campaign website for her. One of the first Google search results for Gray is a Reddit thread with users speculating about her candidacy.
Other news outlets have referred to Gray as "a mystery" and asked anyone from the campaign to reach out with information.
Warren Bloom
Committeeman and minster Warren Bloom decided to run for Philadelphia mayor after consulting with family, pastor, friends and neighbors according to his campaign website. As a lifelong resident of the city, Bloom is an advocate for education, jobs, equal rights, union rights, and labor rights.
Bloom's website lists the issues he is passionate about and a list of things achieved as a community. The list of issue range from fighting for children, family and a safer city to fighting for women's health rights and better access to healthcare, to fighting for environmental excellence for all and many more.
Things achieved as a community also range from battling for economic, housing, and racial justice to battling for supporting student rights and the rights to ending failing schools, and battling for unions and workers' rights.
Amen Brown
Amen Brown, a Democratic Pennsylvania state representative serving the 10th District, announced his campaign for mayor in December. Brown, at 35 years old, would become the youngest mayor in the city's history if elected.
Brown was elected to the state House in December 2020 and re-elected in 2022.
Brown was born and raised in Philadelphia. He graduated from Overbrook High School and attended the Community College of Philadelphia for early childhood education. Prior to entering politics, Brown ran day cares and afterschool programs.
Brown's platform revolves around public safety and gun violence, affordable housing, improving quality of life in the city and strengthening the city's education system.
On his campaign website, Brown says Philadelphia needs to take a "multi-efforted approach that focuses on prevention, community investment and accountability" to address the public safety dilemma.
His economic plan includes a three-year abatement on Business Income & Receipts Tax (BIRT) for small businesses that are already established in the city. He also touts a living wage, writing "earning a living wage should not be for some but for all."
As for quality of life for city residents, Brown proposes updating the trash collection system and implement an "aggressive blight removal plan." Brown also says he would build a ride park to address illegal ATV riding in the city.
Brown says his administration would fight for more funding for Philadelphia schools and also invest in vocational programs. His education plan also includes fighting to increase teacher wages.
David Oh
David Oh became the first and only Republican candidate in the Philadelphia mayor race when he resigned from city council on Feb. 13 and launched his campaign. Oh is considered by many as the first serious Republican candidate for Philadelphia mayor in the past two decades.
He was one of two Republicans on Philadelphia City Council and was the only citywide elected Republican officeholder.
During his time on city council, Oh has been vocal about the lack of police enforcement for illegal ATV riders, introduced a budget amendment to withhold $10 million of SEPTA funding unless it hired more officers, and a bill to end the city's "soda tax." After a violent Labor Day Weekend last year, Oh called it a "bad look" for the city.
Oh's campaign website says public safety and crime, are the top issue the city is facing. He also has sections about education reform and jobs and economic prosperity, among others.
Oh says if elected, he would promote regular police patrolling and an increased visual presence with a focus on "crime hot spots." He also pledges he would improve the police department's technology, implement community-oriented policing and evaluate the department's forensic capability.
Oh has the backing of former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and Ronald D. Castille, former Philadelphia district attorney and chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
For the latest updates on everything you need to know about the 2023 May primary in Pennsylvania, check out our Primary Guide and stay with CBS News Philadelphia on all our platforms.
