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Mayor Cherelle L. Parker is building a political war chest. Here’s where the money came from.

The haul shows how the city’s Democratic donor base has coalesced around Parker and how she’s enjoyed continued support from backers in organized labor.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker takes the stage during Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris' first campaign rally with running mate Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota at Temple University's Liacouras Center.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker takes the stage during Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris' first campaign rally with running mate Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota at Temple University's Liacouras Center.Read moreJose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

When Mayor Cherelle L. Parker ran for mayor in 2023, most of her opponents in the crowded Democratic primary raised and spent more money than she did. She has said often that it made her something of an underdog.

But in her first year in office, Parker showed she is a formidable fundraiser, building a large political war chest several years before a theoretical run for reelection, and doling out thousands to fellow Democrats.

That’s according to campaign-finance reports filed Friday that show Parker raised $1.4 million last year for her political arm, a significant sum for a sitting mayor in her first year in office. That’s more than twice what former Mayor Jim Kenney raised in 2016, his first year after taking office, and nearly as much as Parker raised for her campaign ahead of the uber-competitive 2023 primary.

The haul shows how the city’s Democratic donor base has coalesced around Parker — including major donors who once contributed to her opponents — and how she has enjoyed continued support from backers in organized labor. The filings also show Parker spent significant sums on events and consultants, and cut big checks to the Democratic Party ahead of last year’s presidential election.

Parker said in a statement that she is proud of her fundraising, saying her contributors “are bonded by a belief that Philadelphia is on the right path.”

“These numbers establish Cherelle Parker’s political leadership,” said Aren Platt, who heads her political operation, “both by fundraising through contributions large and small and as a major funder of both the state and local Democratic Parties during a crucial election year.”

Support from building trades and major donors

The politically influential Philadelphia Building Trades and Construction Council played a crucial role in Parker’s 2023 win by pouring cash into a super PAC to support her bid.

Last year, Parker remained a close ally to the trades, advocating for a proposed 76ers arena in Center City that was politically tricky but a major priority for the construction unions that saw the project as a boon for job creation.

» READ MORE: While union powerhouse ‘Johnny Doc’ is on trial, the Building Trades are still pulling their weight politically

Through the year, she saw significant financial support from the group.

Ten building trades unions gave Parker a combined $230,000 last year, making up more than half of the dollars she raised from political action committees. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, a longtime political juggernaut and a top advocate for the arena project, gave Parker $45,000.

The Laborers District Council, led by building trades head Ryan Boyer, contributed $35,000. Parker also pulled in large checks from the unions representing plumbers and sprinkler fitters.

She was also supported last year by groups that once boosted her opponents, including the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, which gave Parker $10,000 in November. The PFT was a top backer of former City Councilmember Helen Gym, who finished third in the Democratic primary.

Some of the top individual donors to Parker’s campaign are among the city’s well-known Democratic benefactors.

Her top donor was Joseph Neubauer, the former Aramark CEO and head of the Neubauer Family Foundation, who gave Parker $45,000 in November and sat on her transition committee.

Neubauer contributed to Parker’s primary campaign in 2023, giving the maximum amount allowed under campaign finance laws — and he also supported two of her opponents: former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, who finished second, and businessman Jeff Brown, who finished fifth.

Parker’s second-biggest individual contributor was venture capitalist Richard Vague, who donated $33,500 to the mayor through several contributions last year. Vague, who bankrolled a super PAC that supported Rhynhart’s campaign, is today a cochair of the city’s Tax Reform Commission.

What Parker spent money on, from donations to steak houses

Some of the Parker campaign’s biggest expenses were checks to other Democrats.

The mayor’s PAC gave the state Democratic Party $65,000 last year ahead of the presidential election, and sent an additional $45,000 to the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee. Both were responsible for driving voter turnout in the presidential and U.S. Senate races, as well as down-ballot contests.

» READ MORE: Mayor Cherelle Parker vows to fight for Kamala Harris’ campaign ‘block by block'

The contributions to the state and city parties were especially large considering Parker herself was not on the ballot last year and won’t be until 2027, at the earliest. They were also notable given reports ahead of the November election that local Democrats, including operatives close to Parker, were raising concerns about the effectiveness of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign in Pennsylvania.

State Sen. Sharif Street, chair of the state Democratic Party, praised Parker’s contributions to the state party in a statement, saying the mayor “cemented herself last year as one of the leaders in the city and across the state by answering the call and going above and beyond to help the Democratic Party.”

The campaign-finance reports show Parker’s campaign also spent money to make money, paying consulting firm Rittenhouse Political Partners $153,000 over the course of the year.

She also spent $357,000 on events including fundraisers, nearly $100,000 to rent out the Fillmore Philadelphia for an inauguration party, and $57,000 to snag Live! Casino in South Philadelphia for her birthday bash.

The campaign also paid tens of thousands for catering and other costs — like $20,000 to Big Bloc Entertainment, an agency that books professional musical acts.

An additional $49,000 went toward costs labeled “travel and meetings.”

That sum includes meals at more than 50 restaurants, from Herschel’s East Side Deli inside Reading Terminal Market to a P.F. Chang’s in Plymouth Meeting and a Wildberry Pancakes in Chicago.

There were also big-ticket meal purchases: $11,000 for repeat visits to the Capital Grille, $2,500 for two trips at Steak 48, and $1,800 at Loch Bar. All are white-tablecloth restaurants on South Broad Street in the shadow of City Hall.

After all that spending — $935,000 in total — Parker headed into this year with about $720,000 in the bank.

Staff writer Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this article.