🗳️ What we’re watching | Morning Newsletter

We’re in for mostly sunny skies and a high of 58. Welcome to a new week.

The general election tomorrow probably won’t have the hype — or the turnout — of a presidential election year, but it could tease out some clues for next year.

Our lead story lists the trends and races we’re keeping an eye on.

— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Historically, the party in control of the White House tends to do poorly in off-year elections. That doesn’t help President Joe Biden who continues to suffer from low approval ratings.

But Democrats defied historic headwinds last year in part by winning an open Senate seat and holding onto Congressional seats.

Here are two of the things we’re watching for in tomorrow’s election.

Do the suburbs backslide?

Democrats benefited from huge gains in the suburbs the last time local commissioner and county executive races were up in 2019. But it’s different four years later — Biden is in the White House instead of former President Donald Trump, who motivated Democrats against him. The suburbs were key to Biden’s victory in the state in 2020 and Tuesday will test if that Democratic grip is slipping and where.

Does Philly turn out?

Philly’s turnout — and the city’s overall share of the Democratic vote — has been on the decline in recent years. If the city’s portion of the state Democratic vote continues to dwindle, that’s a sign for Democrats hoping to keep a Senate seat and the White House next year.

Read on for more themes, including how the strength of the progressive movement against moderate Republicans will be tested on both sides of the state.

Speaking of Philly, we will likely know who will be Philadelphia’s 100th mayor by tomorrow night.

The two candidates, Democrat Cherelle Parker and Republican David Oh, are still trying to get their message out to voters.

There’s been no polling in the general election for the mayor’s race but there are few outside of Oh’s most loyal supporters who believe he can beat out Parker. Democrats hold a 7-1 voter registration edge in the city and Oh trails badly in fundraising.

With just days to go, Parker campaigned at a get-out-the-vote motorcade over the weekend. In the last week, Oh has kept up his campaign strategy of courting various niche communities and immigrant groups. He attended a flag-raising ceremony at City Hall “to commemorate 100 years of Turkish democracy” and made an appearance on a Spanish-language radio station to discuss how “to achieve public safety and economic growth,” according to his social media accounts.

Continue reading to learn how Parker and Oh got here.

After hearing that the tiles from Isaiah Zagar’s famed Skin of the Bride would be available to pick up, Fishtown resident Jenna Countie knew she had to make a trip to Old City.

Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens’ restoration team chiseled away the remaining tiles Thursday from the 7,000 square-foot mural wrapped around the former Painted Bride Center with hopes to create a memorial honoring Zagar and the original mosaic.

In her own words: “They’re not just tiles, it’s really a piece of art and history because it’s been here so long,” Countie said. “[Zagar] is 84 years old. He’s probably not going to be making more art like this, so this [is] cool and personal to have — even just a few pieces of it.”

Zagar worked 12- to 15-hour days for nine years to create Skin of the Bride, one of the largest public murals of his career. Developer and architect Shimi Zakin wanted to preserve the full mural and build apartments above, but neighbors sued to stop the city from granting him the zoning exceptions he said he needed.

Keep reading to learn what Countie intends to do with Zagar’s tiles.

When was the first The Philadelphia Inquirer — then known as The Pennsylvania Inquirer — published?

A) June 1, 1829

B) July 1, 1828

C) Jan. 15, 1830

D) Feb. 15, 1815

Think you know? Check your answer.

🥨Explaining: How Philly’s City Council at-large races work with pizza, hoagies, and pretzels.

🥓Craving: The Gavone sandwich at Rocco’s Italian Sausage & Cheesesteaks after seeing a picture of it on our list of the 50 best breakfast sandwiches in the Philly area.

Hint: Repping Delco on The Golden Bachelor

NOUNS SEALS

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Renee Powell, who correctly guessed Sunday’s answer: Poconos.

Let’s make it a great week. I’ll be back tomorrow for all of your Election Day needs. I will catch you later 👋🏽