Most incumbents won in City Council races, and Cindy Bass declared victory over her progressive challenger
This year’s contested races in the Philadelphia Democratic primary were in the 7th, 8th, and 9th City Council Districts.
Most incumbent district City Council members were on track to prevail in Tuesday’s primary election.
The Associated Press on Wednesday called the 9th District race for Councilmember Anthony Phillips and the 7th District for Councilmember Quetcy Lozada. Both newcomers to office, Phillips and Lozada took office through a special election in November and are vying for their first full terms.
The other district Council members ran unopposed and easily secured their nominations, including a newcomer running to replace Council President Darrell L. Clarke.
Cindy Bass, a three-term Council member, declared victory Wednesday evening in a close race against union organizer Seth Anderson-Oberman, who ran on a progressive platform and had attacked Bass as an ineffective leader of the 8th District in Northwest Philadelphia. The Associated Press had not called the race as of Wednesday evening, and Bass was leading Anderson-Oberman by about 300 votes. .
Jeffery “Jay” Young Jr., the only newcomer who won a district Council race, ran unopposed in the 5th Council District, where longtime Council President Darrell L. Clarke is stepping down after five terms.
If all the leads hold, nine district Council candidates would be poised to easily prevail in the November general election. The exception is Councilmember Brian O’Neill, Council’s only Republican district representative and the only GOP primary candidate in district Council races Tuesday. He will face a challenge from Democratic nominee Gary Masino in the 10th District in the far Northeast.
Here’s a rundown of the primary results by district.
1st District
Councilmember Mark Squilla easily secured the Democratic nomination with no challenger in the race.
No Republican filed to run against him, so Squilla, 60, walks an easy path to reelection for his fourth term, barring a challenge from a third-party candidate. He is a contender to become the next Council president.
2nd District
Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson easily secured the Democratic nomination with no opposition on the ballot. The three-term lawmaker weathered a bruising third term in which federal prosecutors twice attempted to convict him on corruption charges. Johnson, 49, was acquitted by a federal jury in November, and is now a contender for Council president.
With no challengers in the general election, he is virtually guaranteed a fourth term. No Republicans filed to run against him.
3rd District
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, 44, easily secured the Democratic nomination with no opposition in the primary. Her challengers dropped out of the race in March amid legal challenges.
No Republicans filed to run against Gauthier, so unless a third-party candidate launches a campaign by Aug. 1, she will coast to re-election for her second term. Gauthier is part of Council’s progressive bloc — a coterie of left-leaning lawmakers focused on issues like affordable housing and worker protections.
4th District
Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr., 65, easily secured the Democratic nomination with no opposition in the primary.
No Republicans filed to run against Jones in November, so he’s poised to coast to reelection for his fifth term in office. Jones, who many view as a moderate Democrat, is a contender to become the next Council president.
5th District
Jeffery “Jay” Young Jr. secured the Democratic nomination in an uncontested race on Tuesday, making him the heir apparent to retiring Council President Darrell L. Clarke, who has led the 5th District for more than two decades.
The race to replace Clarke was expected to be heated. But after an unusual turn of events, Young, an attorney and former Clarke staffer, was the only candidate who made the ballot. The other candidates, including some who were favored by Clarke and other elected officials, dropped out after facing legal challenges to their candidacies. Young will run unopposed in the general election.
6th District
Councilmember Mike Driscoll, 63, inched closer to his first full term in office Tuesday, securing the Democratic nomination in an uncontested primary in Northeast Philadelphia’s 6th District.
Driscoll won office in a special election last year after former Councilmember Bobby Henon resigned following his conviction on bribery and corruption charges. No Republican filed to run against him in the general election.
7th District
Councilmember Quetcy Lozada secured the Democratic nomination to lead the 7th District and turned back a challenge from Andrés Celin, a self-styled progressive.
Lozada, the longtime chief of staff for former Councilmember Maria Quiñones Sánchez, won a special election in November after her boss resigned last year to run for mayor.
Lozada, 52, campaigned on her strong relationships in the district and a promise to build a long-term plan for Kensington and surrounding neighborhoods.
The party-backed incumbent faced Celin, 34, a social worker who moved into the district three years ago and campaigned on a progressive platform.
No Republican has filed to run in the general election.
8th District
Philadelphia City Councilmember Cindy Bass declared victory Wednesday evening against Democratic primary challenger Seth Anderson-Oberman, while holding a lead of about 300 votes in the close race.
The Associated Press had not yet called the race, but Bass had maintained her narrow lead throughout the day Wednesday.
“This was a hard-fought race, but I am pleased to have won the Democratic primary for city council in the 8th District,” she said in a statement to The Inquirer around 6 p.m. Wednesday. “We need to be diligent about ensuring that every last vote is counted, but based on our analysis of the divisions remaining we are confident in the outcome.”
Bass, 55, ran on her experience leading parts of North and Northwest Philadelphia as she faced one of the few competitive reelection campaigns among City Council’s 10 district-based members. Anderson-Oberman, 52, ran on a progressive platform, attacking Bass as an ineffective leader whose tenure had been tarnished by poor leadership decisions, failed redevelopment plans, and political cronyism.
With 183 of 187 divisions reporting as of Wednesday evening, Bass ran strong in the Germantown and North Philadelphia sections of her 8th District, while Anderson-Oberman outperformed her in Chestnut Hill and Mount Airy.
The Bass campaign felt confident Wednesday afternoon, said campaign spokesperson Terressa Thompson. The unreported divisions are in North Philly east of Broad Street. Based on the voting trends so far, that appears to be an area of the district that strongly supported Bass. Anderson-Oberman said his campaign was still waiting on the final results and thanked his supporters for making such a close race possible.
9th District
Councilmember Anthony Phillips secured the Democratic nomination in the 9th District over challengers Yvette Young and James Williams, bringing the freshman lawmaker closer to a full term in office. He was declared the winner Wednesday morning.
Phillips, a nonprofit founder, was picked by party bosses to succeed former 9th District Councilmember Cherelle Parker, who resigned to run for mayor last year. He took office after winning a special election in November.
At 34, he is the youngest member of Council. He calls himself a “pragmatic Democrat” who, like his predecessor, wants to focus on stabilizing the district’s middle-class Black neighborhoods that are at risk of population decline.
10th District
Gary Masino secured the Democratic nomination in this far Northeast Philadelphia district, setting up a competitive general election race against Republican Councilmember Brian O’Neill.
O’Neill, meanwhile, won the Republican nomination in the 10th District, a seat he has held since 1980. He ran unopposed in the primary, but will now face a well-funded rival in Democrat Gary Masino in the general election.
Council’s last-standing Republican, O’Neill, 73, has seldom faced a serious challenger in his far Northeast Philadelphia district, which is home to a large number of Republican and moderate Democratic voters. He last fought off a primary challenge in 2019.
