The Philly GOP is soul searching after an unprecedented loss to the Working Families Party: ‘This could be the end’

The Working Families Party’s message was simple: Vote for us, and you can kick Republicans out of Philadelphia City Hall.

Turns out that in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 7-1, that simple message resonates.

The progressive third party stunned Philadelphia Republicans for the second time in four years Tuesday, winning two seats on City Council that are effectively reserved for members outside the majority party. For more than 70 years, those seats were held by the GOP.

In 2019, Councilmember Kendra Brooks, of the Working Families Party, won one. On Tuesday, she won reelection and her running mate, pastor Nicolas O’Rourke, took the other.

Now, just one Republican remains in the legislative body of a city with more than 115,000 Republicans. The defeat has the losing candidates and the city’s Republican Party leadership wondering how they could have mounted a stronger effort. And some affiliated with the party see the results of Tuesday’s election as a death blow to a party that has watched its power and influence wane over several decades.

“A stake in the heart of the Republican Party,” said Sam Katz, a former Republican mayoral candidate who is now a registered independent. “I think here in Philadelphia, the two-party system is gone. It’s a sad state of affairs.”

» READ MORE: Why Tuesday was an existential test for the Philly GOP

Jim Hasher, one of the Republican candidates, said Wednesday morning that he was defeated because progressives generated more energy and stronger turnout. He said the party leadership and ward apparatus “did a nice job,” but said “it’s just not enough if we’re ever going to get a seat back.”

Hasher said the party must appeal to younger voters if it wants to survive in the city.

“We cannot do this with an old boys’ network,” he said. “This could be the end, unless somebody is willing to step up and take the bull by the horns.”

Hasher said he was not calling for a leadership change. The party is currently led by Vince Fenerty, a former Philadelphia Parking Authority executive. Former chair Mike Meehan resigned in 2019, days after Brooks’ first win.

Republicans were competing with the Working Families Party because of the unique structure of Philadelphia’s legislative body. Seven seats are held by members who represent the city at-large, but each party may only nominate five candidates. That means two are effectively set aside for non-Democrats.

Unofficial election returns show Brooks finishing sixth behind five Democratic nominees, and O’Rourke took the seventh seat. As of Wednesday, he had about 5,000 votes more than the Republicans, Hasher and Drew Murray.

» READ MORE: Philly City Council is entering a new era with lots of turnover, more progressive power, and new leadership

Most observers said Hasher and Murray ran effective, though disparate, campaigns.

Hasher is a former ward leader with deep ties to Northeast Philadelphia who was backed by a coalition of deep-pocketed building trades unions. He ran television ads for weeks that aimed to portray his opponents as extreme and said he’d tackle public safety, the No. 1 issue for most city voters.

Murray is a Center City civic leader and a former Democrat who emphasized centrist political leanings throughout the campaign. He told supporters Tuesday night that he’s worried about the future of his party, saying “I think the Republican Party may be in big trouble.”

“I’m not sure if there is a space for moderates anymore,” he said Wednesday morning. “It seems like all we hear is the far left and the far right.”

The Republicans were also helped by a super PAC called the Coalition for Safety and Equitable Growth, which ran exclusively negative advertising about the Working Families Party candidates.

In the end, the campaigns fell short of what the Working Families Party mounted, which even the Republican candidates agreed was a well-funded and organized effort.

Brooks and O’Rourke set fundraising records for third-party candidates and far out-raised the Republicans. They had larger campaign staffs, paid more consultants, and ran television commercials for weeks with their message of “kicking Republicans out.”

They were also supported by an independent expenditure group funded by the Working Families Party’s national organization, which is based in New York and spent more than a million dollars on the race — half of which went to a door-knocking and voter education operation.

The other half was spent on television commercials that explained to voters how to cast ballots for Brooks and O’Rourke in order to “stop Republicans.” The message was superimposed atop images from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and a photo of former President Donald Trump.

“Their entire message was using the national GOP brand in a negative way,” said Josh Novotney, a Republican ward leader and a political consultant. “I don’t think I saw one specific hit on Murray or Hasher being on the wrong side of an issue.”

Novotney said if Republicans want to regain power in City Hall, the Philly GOP should make a stronger push to educate voters about mail-in ballots, which in Pennsylvania are more often used by Democrats.

He said the local party may also need additional financial support from the state and national GOP in order to match the Working Families Party’s financial strength.

“Republicans need to find a way to equal out the imbalance of spending that was done,” he said. “And the party’s got to obviously do some soul searching.”

Inquirer staff writer Jake Blumgart contributed.