Progressive ward leader eyes Philly City Council run — and a potential showdown with Mark Squilla
Will Gross, the leader of the South Philadelphia-based 2nd Ward and the owner of OX Coffee in Queen Village, was a prominent opponent of the Center City arena proposal that Squilla supported.
Will Gross, a progressive activist and the Democratic leader of a South Philadelphia ward, said Thursday that he plans to run for City Council in a race that could pit him against longtime sitting Councilmember Mark Squilla.
In a statement to The Inquirer, Gross said he “intend[s] to run for the First District to fight for transformative policies that deliver for working class Philadelphians.”
“I’ve been hearing from a lot of people throughout the district, from Port Richmond to South Philly and everywhere in between, who are eager for new leadership and are encouraging me to run,” he said.
Every City Council seat will be on the ballot next year. Gross said that he would have “more to say” about his campaign after this November’s midterm election.
If Gross officially launches a campaign and Squilla runs for reelection, as he has said he intends to, it could make the 1st District a key battleground ahead of the May primary election.
“It’s a democratic society, and people have a right to run for office,” Squilla said Thursday.
Gross would likely be supported by the city’s left-leaning organizations, which are looking to grow their influence on Council by toppling more centrist Democratic incumbents. He recently launched a campaign website that identifies him as a labor organizer and a democratic socialist.
Meanwhile, Squilla has long been aligned with organized labor and much of the city’s Democratic establishment. He has repeatedly cruised to reelection since he first took office in 2012.
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Squilla angered progressives in 2024 when he supported the effort by the 76ers to build a new arena in Center City. That project would have been located adjacent to Chinatown, and opponents said it would have been an existential threat to the neighborhood.
Council approved legislation to green-light the arena project. But weeks after the vote, the Sixers announced that they were abandoning the plan and would construct a new arena in the South Philadelphia stadium district.
Gross, the leader of the South Philadelphia-based 2nd Ward and the owner of OX Coffee in Queen Village, was a prominent opponent of the Center City arena proposal.
He has also previously clashed with the party establishment.
In 2023, Gross’ ward endorsed Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke, who were running for at-large seats on Council on the Working Families Party ticket. He was one of 100 members of the Democratic City Committee who signed a public letter in support of Brooks and O’Rourke, who both went on to win seats on Council.
At the time, City Committee chair Bob Brady warned that members could be expelled from their positions in the Democratic party for supporting candidates from another political party. Brady said then that “the Second Ward is really jerking me around” and that Gross had told him the ward would back off the WFP endorsements, but never did.
In 2022, Gross was one of four Democratic candidates who ran for an open seat in the state House representing parts of Center City. He lost in the primary to State Rep. Ben Waxman, who still represents Pennsylvania’s 182nd district.
Gross is one of several progressives who may challenge incumbent Council members next spring amid a national wave of leftist candidates winning competitive primaries against establishment-aligned Democrats.
Longtime labor organizer Seth Anderson-Oberman has said that he may again challenge Councilmember Cindy Bass, who represents the 8th District in North and Northwest Philadelphia. Bass, who has said she intends to run for reelection, narrowly beat Anderson-Oberman in 2023.
And The Inquirer has previously reported that two progressive criminal justice reform advocates, Celeste Trusty and Leigh Owens, are among a handful of candidates considering running in the 4th District. That seat is currently held by Councilmember Curtis Jones, Jr., who has said he intends to run for reelection.
