Philly’s Democratic Party is likely to order a rerun of Councilmember Cindy Bass’ contested ward election
An order from the party to rerun the ward leader election would be a notable rebuke for Bass, a vice chair of the Democratic City Committee.
Philadelphia’s Democratic City Committee is likely to take the rare step of ordering a redo of Monday’s controversial 22nd Ward leader election, in which City Councilmember Cindy Bass declared herself the victor after a closely divided voice vote, according to a person with knowledge of the party’s decision-making process.
City committee chair Bob Brady confirmed that Octavius Price, a progressive who ran against the incumbent Bass in the Mount Airy ward, has filed a formal challenge to the election results.
The party’s contest committee, which is made up of other ward leaders, will meet on Sunday to hear from both sides, Brady said. That committee will then make a recommendation on how to proceed that will be considered by the full body of duly elected ward leaders from across the city — excluding Bass. From political endorsements to disciplinary decisions, the ward leaders in the past have almost always followed the recommendations of the party’s committees.
Possible outcomes include the party declaring that either Bass or Price had won on Monday night — or ordering a rerun of the election, in which the ward’s committeepeople would have to meet for another election overseen by a neutral party.
Given reports from Monday — including a video showing Bass adjourning the meeting after declaring victory, while ignoring cries for a roll call to clarify the vote — the city committee is all but guaranteed to order a rerun of the election, according to the source, who was not permitted to discuss the party’s plans publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
That decision would represent a notable rebuke from the city’s Democratic establishment for Bass, a centrist who has been a ward leader since 2018 and holds a leadership role in the citywide party as a vice chair.
Bass has repeatedly clashed with progressive activists in her Northwest Philadelphia-based 8th Council District and was narrowly reelected in 2023. She is likely to face another challenge from the left in next year’s Council election, and control of the 22nd Ward could be an important factor in the race.
Bass said she is confident she will have the votes to win another four-year term as ward leader if there is a rerun.
“It’s not in my hands,” she said Wednesday. “It’s totally up to the Democratic City Committee, and I’ll support whatever the decision is.”
Ward leaders and committeepeople are the foot soldiers of the Philadelphia Democratic Party. They are tasked with knocking on doors to get out the vote for party-endorsed candidates, as well as sometimes fielding constituent services requests.
As the incumbent ward leader, Bass chaired Monday night’s election at the Germantown Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mount Airy. A video of the meeting obtained by The Inquirer showed that numerous people voted for Bass and for Price during the voice vote, and that Bass ignored requests for a vote-by-vote roll call that could have clarified who won.
Brady said Monday that while voice votes can be used to decide ward leader elections, any requests for roll-call votes must be honored. He added that having a video of the meeting would provide “great proof” for the contest committee as it tries to sort out what happened.
“There’s always ‘he said, she said,’” Brady said. “But if there’s a video, we gotta take a look at that.”
Price, a fiber optic engineer, said that Democratic City Committee officials have made “no guarantees” to him that there will be a new election. But, he said, they have briefed him on how a rerun would work if the ward leaders order one.
The election would take place at a time negotiated by Price and Bass, he said, and it would be at the city committee headquarters on Spring Garden Street, not in Mount Airy. Price said he was not informed how votes would be cast.
“We just want a fair vote. It’s supposed to be one person, one vote,” he said Wednesday. “I hope that we do get our fair shot. I hope that we get transparency and an opportunity to get our voices heard.”