May 12, 2023
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
In the Democratic primary for Philadelphia mayor on May 16, there are nine candidate running for the city's top job. There is only one Republican, David Oh, running uncontested in his primary.
The primary elections in Philadelphia's mayor's race are days away, marking the end to a tightly contested and occasionally chaotic campaign season — at least among the Democrats.
Since September, a whopping 13 candidates have announced their bids to become the city's next mayor. With many mail-in ballots already cast an in-person voters heading to the polls on May 16, a field of nine Democratic candidates and one Republican remain on the ballots for their partys' respective primaries.
PHILLY MAYOR'S RACE: Cherelle Parker projected to win nomination in Democratic primary | PHILLY CITY COUNCIL RACES: Democratic incumbents Thomas, Richardson, Harrity, along with Landau and Ahmad lead at-large primary | PHILLY'S ROW OFFICE ELECTIONS: Voters tasked with picking nominees for city controller, sheriff and register of wills
This all sets up a potentially historic general election in November. Philadelphia has never had a female mayor, but three women remain contenders for the job: Democrats Helen Gym, Cherelle Parker and Rebecca Rhynhart. There also is long-shot Democratic candidate Delscia Gray, a Northeast Philly resident originally from Cobbs Creek, who works as a security officer at a hospital in East Norriton and has not mounted much of a campaign, to date.
Philly also never has had an Asian American mayor, and two candidates could break that barrier: Gym and Republican David Oh.
While we won't officially know the winner until November, the primary is considered the unofficial real thing. That's because Philadelphia is historically a Democratic city — it hasn't had a Republican mayor since Bernard Samuel, who left office in 1952, and among registered voters, Democrats out number GOP voters 7-to-1.
Looking for information about the candidates and where each stands on the issues? PhillyVoice's election coverage is linked below, including candidate profiles and the answers the politicians provided to our questionnaires, which highlighted some of the critical issues facing the city.
For election information, like how to check your voter registration, where mail-in ballots can be returned, how to find your polling place and other related questions, check out our guide for the May 16 primaries.
Warren Bloom
Amen Brown
Jeff Brown
James DeLeon
Allan Domb
Delscia Gray (Did not respond to multiple requests for interviews)
Helen Gym
Cherelle Parker
Rebecca Rhynhart
David Oh
Derek Green
Maria Quiñones Sánchez
John Wood
We sent questionnaires to the candidates on an array of topics, and about half shared their stances on:
• Gun violence and the opioid crisis
• SEPTA, trash and the Sixers arena
• Inflation and unions
• Abortion and minimum wage
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