Private equity investor Gregory L. Segall, a Philadelphia Republican who was a key backer of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s 2023 campaign, has resigned from three city boards as he weighs other “civic engagement” opportunities, according to a copy of one of his resignation letters obtained by The Inquirer.
Parker, a Democrat, appointed Segall to the Philadelphia Gas Works board, the Philadelphia Tax Reform Commission, and the Mayor’s Business Roundtables. Segall resigned from all three effective Aug. 31. He also served as a vice chair of Parker’s transition committee when she was taking office.
“While I am stepping away from this role, I remain committed to civic engagement and intend to explore other ways to continue the journey I have been privileged to pursue over the last several years,” Segall, the chairman and CEO of Versa Capital, wrote in his letter resigning from the Mayor’s Business Roundtables, an advisory group convened by Parker.
Segall’s moves come as candidates are gearing up to run in next year’s municipal elections, when Parker and all 17 City Council members are up for reelection.
Candidates in the primary election have until early spring to decide whether they are running.
Claudia Vargas, a journalist who formerly worked for NBC10 and The Inquirer, reported this week that Segall was considering running for Council.
When contacted by The Inquirer, Segall, who lives in Chestnut Hill, said Wednesday he is “not running” for Council.
“People have suggested multiple forms of public service, including Council, and I have no plans or commitments at this time,” Segall, 63, said in an interview.
Segall said he continues to “strongly support Mayor Parker, and my highest and best hope is that my public service will be in aid of her continued success.”
Parker on Wednesday declined to comment on the report of Segall exploring a run for office.
From 2022 through 2025, Segall and his wife donated $37,300 to Parker’s campaign, according to campaign finance records. He also gave $150,000 to a super PAC backing her 2023 run, and $6,200 to her transition committee, the records show.
“The 2023 election took place at a time of crisis in the city, and getting the right leader was never more critical,” Segall said. “So the reason for my commitment to her was quite simple: Before I’m a Republican, I’m a Philadelphian.”
Gregory Segall, Chairman and CEO of Versa and Supporter of Mayor Parker, speaks at the Union League of Philadelphia Presidential Luncheon in Philadelphia, Pa., on Thursday, September 18, 2025.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Citing Republican Party sources, Vargas reported that Segall was considering running for one of the two at-large seats on Council that are elected citywide and are set aside by the Home Rule Charter for minority-party or independent candidates.
Republicans held those seats for about seven decades until Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke won them over the last two election cycles as members of the progressive Working Families Party.
Brooks is considering challenging Parker in next year’s mayoral election, sources previously told The Inquirer, which would require her to resign from her Council seat.
The Philly GOP has been strategizing ways to recapture the seats, and a run by Segall, a wealthy businessman who could potentially help fund his own campaign, could be a major opportunity for the party.
Segall donated $2,500 to the Republican City Committee last October.
GOP chair Vince Fenerty said he has met Segall and thinks he is a “nice and honorable man.”
“We’re a party that welcomes any potential candidate, and the decision to endorse would be up to our ward leaders,” Fenerty said in an interview Thursday.
Brian O’Neill, who represents the 10th District in Northeast Philadelphia, is currently the only Republican on Council. Democrats hold the remaining 14 seats.
Philadelphia City Council members are considering dueling proposals over how the city eliminates its garbage, with one lawmaker leading an effort to immediately block the city from shipping its garbage to a trash incinerator and another taking a longer-term approach.
Councilmember Mark Squilla on Thursday introduced legislation authorizing Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration to, within three years, develop a plan to dramatically reduce the city’s reliance on both trash incineration and landfills over the next 20 years.
Squilla’s proposal, which he drafted with input from Parker’s administration, is something of an alternative for lawmakers to consider as Councilmember Jamie Gauthier has for months pushed for a more aggressive approach to stop the city from incinerating trash this year.
Both lawmakers hosted news conferences this week alongside their allies to rally support for their cause, part of a long list of events Council members hosted as the legislative body returned Thursday for its first meeting of the fall session.
Councilmembers Mark Squilla and Katherine Gilmore Richardson (back to camera) greet each other as City Council convenes for its fall session Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The first meeting after the summer break typically has a jovial, first-day-of-school feel. But the mood briefly shifted Thursday when City Hall was evacuated and Council abruptly adjourned after a suspicious package was found on the floor where Council was meeting.
Police cleared the package, and Council resumed its business Thursday afternoon.
Here’s what else happened this week:
What was this week’s highlight?
Incinerator issue heats up: Gauthier has for months sought to pass legislation that would ban the city from continuing its long-term practice of sending about a third of its garbage to a trash incinerator in Chester, about 15 miles south of the city. She argues that incineration is bad for the environment and harms Chester residents’ health.
Parker’s administration opposed the legislation, called the Stop Trashing Our Air Act, and Gauthier in the spring failed to gain enough support for it in Council.
Now, Gauthier is trying to block the Parker administration from renewing its contract with Reworld, the incineration facility. The administration needs Council approval to enter into a new four-year contract with the firm.
Gauthier has several members on her side, including three fellow progressive lawmakers, as well as Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who is the Democratic majority whip.
City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier speaks at a rally outside City Hall early Thursday morning Sept. 17, 2026 where protesters called on Council to reject Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s waste disposal contracts. A coalition of elected officials, health and climate experts, and advocates from Philadelphia and Chester gathered to oppose the city’s sending its trash to an incinerator in Chester.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Squilla’s proposal in some ways offers members an off-ramp. His bill calls for a “circular waste” system that includes new techniques for waste disposal, such as composting and “anaerobic digestion,” a process that breaks down organic waste.
Managing Director Carlton Williams said Wednesday during a news conference with Squilla that the city is looking to build out an anaerobic digestion system within four years.
Squilla said that while the administration is already working toward a more modern waste disposal system, passing a law would “codify what we had as plans and resolutions before.”
Gauthier said that she supports Squilla’s goal of moving toward a more sustainable system, but that his legislation “is a plan to create a longer-range plan.”
“It in no way changes the decision in front of Council,” she said. “We can move away from this practice right now.”
What else happened this week?
Severing the law department: The city law department serves as legal counsel for both the mayor’s administration and Council, a dynamic that can sometimes cause friction when the city’s elected officials disagree.
Council on Thursday approved a resolution by Thomas to hold a hearing “to consider the separation of the [law] department’s functions between the administration and City Council.”
Thomas has clashed with Parker’s administration, and he said he became interested in looking at the department’s structure due to concerns that Council was not receiving independent legal advice on some issues.
Lois Williams (left), dressed as a “sick person,” and Shari Hersh (right) in costume as a “smokestack,” join a rally outside City Hall early Thursday to call on City Council to reject Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s waste disposal contracts.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
He pointed to the Philadelphia School District’s controversial facilities plan, which involves the closure of 17 school buildings and was adopted by the school board in April over the objections of many Council members.
And he said recent legal proceedings around the city’s business income and receipts tax were “part of the motivation” to hold a hearing on the law department.
In 2025, after a Massachusetts company sued the city seeking to overturn a popular tax break program that primarily helped small businesses, the law department said it had determined the lawsuit was likely to succeed. The Parker administration eventually settled the case and persuaded Council to eliminate the tax break. Some Council members at the time complained that the city did not defend the tax break more vigorously.
The department already silos off some of the work it does on behalf of Council from the rest of the administration, such as when it drafts bills proposed by lawmakers. Council also may hire outside legal counsel, but must pay for those services out of its own budget.
A law department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Storage wars: Councilmember Mike Driscoll introduced legislation on Thursday that would ban new self-storage facilities from his district in lower Northeast Philadelphia.
The storage industry boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic, as consumer spending shifted from services to goods, many families struggled to afford larger homes, and low interest rates juiced development.
Northeast Philadelphia saw a particularly large boom in self-storage buildings because of its rich supply of properties zoned for industrial development. Driscoll said that advocates in the Tacony neighborhood felt their community had become oversaturated.
“They want more affordable housing and [self-storage units] are taking valuable sites for that,” Driscoll said.
ExtraSpace self-storage at Washington Avenue and S. 23rd Street, Philadelphia, Monday, November 4, 2024.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Self-storage facilities are gold mines for developers. They suffer little wear and tear, they have few utility costs, and labor costs are low after construction.
According to online industry search portal StorageCafe, Philadelphia has 89 self-storage sites containing more than seven million square feet of space. About a third of that has been built since 2019.
Other municipalities have moved to limit the spread of self-storage facilities in recent years. New York City banned them from industrial areas to preserve jobs, and Denver blocked them from properties close to light rail lines. Providence, R.I., in 2023 banned new facilities from the city altogether.
Driscoll said that he may further limit his legislation to the Tacony neighborhood.
“I don’t want to hurt another part of my district that maybe wants these things,” he said.
Embracing affordability: Multiple members of City Council said this week that tackling affordability is their primary objective this fall, including Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke, whose office published a lengthy report outlining dozens of proposals aimed at reducing costs.
Some may be more realistic short-term goals than others.
The report, which was drafted by a Cost of Living Task Force made up of community advocates and industry leaders, recommended the city explore everything from opening municipal grocery stores to creating a local Medicaid supplement program.
Councilmember Nicholas O’Rourke with students and activists during a press conference about SEPTA in April.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
It also recommends restructuring existing housing programs to more aggressively target the poorest residents, and establishing a Transit Access Fund that would fund free or reduced-fare transit passes for low-income households.
O’Rourke, a member of the progressive Working Families Party, plans to hold a committee hearing on the task force report this fall.
Council President Kenyatta Johnson will also introduce an affordability measure this fall. He plans to bring forward legislation that would establish a permanent Food and Nutrition Security Coordination Office, he said in a statement.
Quote of the week
Jeffery Young, Jr. (left) with twelve year-old Jack Erfer of Wynnewood and councilmembers and Nina Ahmad (right) in supporting the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University before City Council resumes for its fall session Thursday.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
No bones about it: That was Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr., who called for hearings on the planned closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences.
Philadelphia real estate developers see the writing on the wall.
As progressives have toppled centrist Democrats in nationally watched races, some local development interests are wary that the same trend could reshape Philadelphia City Council this spring, when every member is up for reelection. They see a growing progressive faction as a threat to business.
Enter the incumbent protection plan.
Nearly a dozen local developers are already pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into Philly For Growth, a group that in the past two Council election cycles spent millions on advertising campaigns to back business-friendly Democrats, according to a source familiar with the planning.
Philly For Growth is an independent expenditure group, also known as a super PAC. It can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to influence an election, but there are rules barring super PACs from most forms of coordination with the candidates they support.
In 2023, the group was the biggest special interest group involved in that year’s Council races, and it provided a substantial boost to its chosen candidates by outspending individual campaigns.
Ahead of the May primary election, Philly For Growth plans to spend $1.5 million to support pro-business Democrats, most of whom are sitting Council members, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plans. The group will not fund negative advertising about Council’s four incumbent progressives, the source added.
Councilmember Kendra Brooks, of the progressive Working Families Party, speaks during a rally outside of the School District of Philadelphia headquarters in May. At left is Councilmember Rue Landau and at right is Councilmember Jamie Gauthier. All three are members of Council’s progressive faction.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The idea is to keep progressives from growing their power on Council instead of spending money to knock off the leftists who are already there. There are currently four reliably progressive votes out of the total 17 on Council, but some members may be more likely to vote with that faction as Democratic voters nationally revolt against incumbents.
That’s a different strategy than in 2023, when Philly For Growth backed a slate of five candidates — two incumbents and three challengers. Both incumbents won, but all three challengers lost.
Philly For Growth has previously been affiliated with the Building Industry Association of Philadelphia, an advocacy group for development interests. Mo Rushdy, the BIA’s former president who leads the organization’s political activity, declined to comment.
The source said that Philly For Growth will fund advertising to support Council members Mark Squilla, whose 1st District includes parts of South Philly, Center City, and Fishtown; Cindy Bass, whose 8th District is based in North and Northwest Philadelphia; and Quetcy Lozada, whose 7th District includes much of North Philadelphia and Kensington.
All three are seen as more centrist members and have said they intend to run for reelection. No challenger has officially launched a campaign against any of them, but candidates who are aligned with the city’s left-leaning political organizations are expected to emerge as the primary — still eight months away — draws nearer.
The super PAC is making one exception when it comes to supporting incumbent district Council members, the source said. In the 5th District, currently represented by Councilmember Jeffrey Young Jr., the group will support a to-be-decided challenger.
Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. speaks to other members of Council during a 2025 session.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
At least five people have said they are interested in running for the North Philly-based 5th District seat, and Young has drawn opposition from development interests for pushing proposals that would slow or halt some projects in his district.
Young said in a statement that building “sensible, affordable housing” is one of his top priorities and that he has supported city programs like Turn the Key, which provides mortgage support to first-time homebuyers.
“People are free to back those who share their values. These are my values,” Young said. “I am leaving it to the residents of the 5th to determine whose values best reflect them.”
The super PAC will also fund advertising backing four incumbent members who represent the city at-large: Isaiah Thomas, Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Jim Harrity, and Nina Ahmad. That group doesn’t include progressive at-large Councilmember Rue Landau, but Philly For Growth doesn’t plan to oppose her, the source said.
Council President Kenyatta Johnson laughs inside the caucus inside City Hall on June 11.Aidan T. Gallo / Staff Photographer
A spokesperson for Landau’s campaign arm said in a statement that the Council member “stands by her accomplishments for working people, small businesses and vulnerable communities in Philadelphia and looks forward to voters having the opportunity to make up their own minds next year.”
It’s unclear just how competitive the at-large race will be, and candidates have until the spring to decide — nomination paperwork is typically due in March. Seven of Council’s members represent the entire city at-large, and two of those seats are effectively reserved for members of minority parties under the city’s Home Rule Charter.
That has traditionally meant that five seats are held by Democrats, given the party’s massive voter registration advantage in the city. In recent years, Republicans and the progressive Working Families Party have battled for the remaining two seats during the fall general election, and the WFP currently holds both.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who is also up for reelection, and Council President Kenyatta Johnson, who insiders do not expect will see a serious challenger, will likely be on Philly For Growth’s slate, too, the source said.
Philadelphia City Council is already looking to 2027. And with all 17 seats on the ballot next spring, the elections are shaping up to be a pivotal test of whether the city’s established politicians can withstand a rising tide of frustration with the party among Democratic voters.
All of the incumbents have said they intend to run for reelection, and several are likely to face serious challenges from new candidates focused on grassroots organizing and progressive groups — hoping to seize the opportunity presented by a nationwide leftward shift amid President Donald Trump’s second term.
Three districts have emerged as key battlegrounds.
And the city’s progressive organizations, emboldened by a series of wins locally and nationally, are targeting two other districts: the 1st, which stretches from South Philadelphia to Fishtown and is represented by Councilmember Mark Squilla, and the 8th, which includes parts of North and Northwest Philadelphia and is represented by Councilmember Cindy Bass.
“We’re definitely feeling confident,” said Robert Saleem Holbrook, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Straight Ahead. “Anyone who is going to be running under a progressive banner or a progressive movement is going to have to be running against the establishment, not toward it.”
A competitive race also appears to be taking shape for the seven Council seats that represent the city at-large.
Five of those seats are all but certain to be won by Democrats, making the May 2027 primary the key election in deep-blue Philadelphia.
The other two at-large seats — set aside for Council members outside the majority party under the city’s Home Rule Charter — will be decided in the November 2027 general election. Currently, the two minority party seats are held by Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke of the left-leaning Working Families Party.
Jane Golden, founder and executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, takes the stage during the dedication of the Super Bowl LIX mural at Spike’s Trophies on June 17, 2025 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Golden, 73, said last week that she is not currently running for Council, but acknowledged she has thought about it for years.
“It’s always something that is tempting to me, because I just love the city so much,” she said. “I feel honored that people even think of me.”
Progressives eye Bass’ North Philly seat
Philadelphia’s progressive activists this year see two key opportunities to expand the loosely organized left-leaning bloc on Council, which currently consists of four members. Winning additional seats could also grow their influence by enticing more moderate members to vote alongside them if they believe primary voters are moving left.
Leftists have notched high-profile wins in Democratic primaries across the country this year, including in Philadelphia, where democratic socialist State Rep. Chris Rabb (D., Philadelphia) bested more moderate candidates for a seat in Congress representing about half of the city. The district is one of the most Democratic in the nation.
Anderson-Oberman, 55, the executive director of the progressive group Reclaim Philadelphia, said last week that he is “leaning” toward taking another swing.
“We’re in a moment in this country and this city where people have had enough,” he said. “People are looking for new answers. … Cindy represents the old way of doing things.”
Union organizer Seth Anderson-Oberman, running for 8th District City Council, joins in a small rally with community and Happy Hollow Advisory Board members along Wayne Avenue at Happy Hollow Playground in Philadelphia on April 2, 2023.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Another Council run by Anderson-Oberman may test how far progressive momentum can go in Philadelphia. He was a member of the Communist Party USA in his 20s, and has said he is proud of that experience.
Bass, 58, said she is ready for the race no matter who her opponent is.
In June, she survived a contentious fight for another four-year term as Democratic leader of Mount Airy’s 22nd Ward. She was criticized for her handling of the process, and the party ordered a redo of the election.
She and her progressive opponent, Octavius Price, tied, then struck a power-sharing agreement. Through it all, Bass said, longtime residents stuck by her — and she is confident voters will do the same next year.
“My voters are people who are based in this community, committed to this community, intend to stay in the communities that they are in,” she said.
City Councilmember Cindy Bass (center) attends the watch party for Democratic candidate for mayor Cherelle L. Parker at Laborers 332 in Philadelphia on May 16, 2023.Heather Khalifa / Staff Photographer
Jeff Jones, a community leader and social justice advocate from Germantown, has also said he intends to run in the 8th District.
“I want to bring that new vision and a new voice to the 8th District, where residents and children and families can know that their voice matters, their concerns will be heard, and their challenges will be met,” said Jones, 61, a first-time political candidate.
Squilla could see a lefty challenger
Leftists are also eying Squilla’s seat, which represents the area along the Delaware River from Pennsport to Kensington. Since Squilla took office in 2012, the district has transformed from a bastion of working-class white voters to one of the most progressive swaths of the city.
Squilla, 63, who has strong labor ties and is one of the most pro-development district Council members, said being a centrist has likely put a target on his back in the 2027 election.
Another contributing factor may be Squilla’s support for controversial legislation in 2024 to approve the 76ers’ since-abandoned plan to build a new arena in Center City. The project, which would have been in Squilla’s 1st District, was opposed by advocates for Chinatown, which the arena would havebordered.
Councilmember Mark Squilla arrives in Council chambers on Nov. 12, 2024, before the start of a public hearing on a proposed Sixers arena.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Despite the fierce objections, Council approved the project with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s support in December 2024. Weeks later, the basketball team announced it was abandoning its Center City plan and would instead build its next arena in South Philly.
Squilla said he is prepared to defend his actions, noting that he worked to ensure any arena deal would benefit his district and that many of those promises are moving forward despite the 76ers withdrawing their proposal.
“The goal as an elected official, and also as a leader, is not always to make the popular decision,” he said. “The goal is to have a process to make the decision that would be best for the people around it.”
One prominent opponent of the Center City arena plan was Will Gross, the owner of Ox Coffee in Queen Village and a progressive who is the Democratic leader of the 2nd Ward. He is seen by political insiders and progressive organizations as the most likely candidate to take on Squilla.
Gross declined to comment.
In this 2023 file photo, Will Gross and Kay Yoon, of the No Arena in Chinatown group, deliver petitions to Councilmember Mark Squilla. Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
A progressive challenger may also emerge in the North Philly and Kensington-based 7th District, which is represented by Councilmember Quetcy Lozada.
Some insiders have speculated that Celin may run again. He declined to comment.
Lozada, 55, said she “can’t focus” on potential challengers.
“If I spend my time listening to the buzz about who is running,” she said, “we won’t get any work done.”
A battle takes shape in the 5th District
In the 5th District, a seat that represents parts of North Philadelphia and Center City, a handful of Democratic challengers are lining up to take on Young, 40, who is seen as one of Council’s most vulnerable members.
That is in part because of the unusual way in which he was elected in 2023. He ended up being the only Democrat on the ballot after several others, including party officials’ preferred candidates, were removed amid legal challenges.
Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. in chambers as City Council meets Dec. 11, 2025.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
One of those candidates was Curtis Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to former City Council President Darrell L. Clarke. Two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the campaign dynamics, said Wilkerson is considering running for the seat again next year.He did not respond to a request for comment.
Also likely to run is Jalon Alexander, an attorney who unsuccessfully ran for an at-large seat on Council in 2023. Alexander, 33, formed an exploratory committee last year and is expected to formally declare his candidacy later this summer.
Two others are also considering running.
Dustin Dove, a lawyer and the president of the Fairmount Civic Association, said neighbors and community leaders have encouraged him to get in the Council race, and he is “taking the possibility of running seriously.”
“I think our city government should work for everyone by keeping our neighborhoods safe and streets walkable, making housing affordable, and ensuring fairness and access in public services,” Dove, 38, said last week.
Jalon Alexander, an attorney and community advocate, speaks to attendees at a meeting about potential SEPTA budget cuts hosted at Garden of Prayer Church in Strawberry Mansion on June 9, 2025.Erin Blewett / For The Inquirer
And Max Tuttleman, 37, a philanthropist who unsuccessfully ran for an at-large seat in 2023, said he “cares deeply about the 5th District and would never close the door to serving Philadelphia.”
He added that “Center City and the neighborhoods around it should be growing faster than they are.”
Young said in an interview last weekthat he intends to run for reelection, but that challengers are not his focus.
“I‘m focused on serving my constituency, serving my community,” he said. “The work that we’ve been doing will hopefully earn the support of the residents of the 5th District.”
A smaller, but competitive, at-large field
Over the last several election cycles, dozens of candidates lined up to run for at-large seats during a time of immense turnover in Council.
But with seven incumbents all looking toward reelection in 2027, there may be fewer challengers who line up to take them on. So far, only Golden and a handful of others have emerged as possible contenders.
David Alexander Jenkins, a cultural strategist known for delivering impassioned speeches during Council’s public comment section, said he is considering a run, encouraged by fellow community members.
“When the community that is around you constantly pushes you to intercede on their behalf, then it’s because they have trusted you to do what it is that you do best,” Jenkins, 39, said. “I think it would be incredibly unwise to ignore that.”
And Jude Husein, 28, a Palestinian-born community activist who was raised in North Philly, has already launched her campaign. If her bid is successful, Husein, a former staffer for State Sen. Art Haywood, would be the first member of Gen Z on Council.
In this 2023 file photo, Jude Husein, of North Philadelphia, speaks at a rally for a Day of Solidarity event at the Art Museum steps.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Leaders of progressive organizations said they are closely watching her candidacy. However, Husein is not exactly running as a leftist. She said that her policy positions are varied and that she will seek endorsements from any institution that is “values-aligned.”
“I’m running because I think government should work for the people who pay for it, and should make neighborhoods affordable and safer,” she said.
Also in the running for Council at-large seats are Billy McCann, 46, a former teacher who lives in Port Richmond, and Isaiah T. Martin, 26, who lives in West Philly and leads a community development nonprofit. The pair, who both said they are progressive, have established something of a slate with Jones, who is challenging Bass in the 8th District.
They said they would prioritize public education, affordability, housing assistance, and government accountability, and they argued that establishment Democrats are failing to connect with voters.
“A new day is coming,” said Martin, another member of Gen Z who would make history on Council if elected. “It’s time we get people who are going to do the actual work and not just sit here and talk about it.”
Through much of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s first two years in office, most political insiders in Philadelphia assumed she would cruise to reelection.
After all, no mayor in the last eight decades in the deep-blue city has lost a bid for a second term. And Parker is backed by the city’s long-powerful Democratic establishment, contributing to the foregone conclusion that their allied mayor would win again.
Even some of Parker’s staunchest critics on the left admitted privately that they were resigned to her serving eight years in office.
Then last month, conventional wisdom started to crack.
State Rep. Chris Rabb — a democratic socialist and an anti-establishment firebrand — won a tightly contested battle for an open seat in Congress, prevailing over Parker’s endorsed candidate and even carrying the 50th Ward in Northwest Philadelphia, where Parker is ward leader.
Now some of the activists who lead the city’s largest left-leaning organizations think that race showed that Philadelphians are ready to pick a progressive over the Democratic establishment. And they are looking at next year’s mayor’s race again, asking the question: Is Parker vulnerable?
“We would love to have a progressive challenger in this race,” said Sergio Cea, political director of the progressive group Reclaim Philadelphia. “The establishment was really defeated on all fronts this election cycle.”
In a little more than 10 months, Parker, a centrist Democrat and the city’s first female mayor, will be up for reelection. She has not officially announced a campaign — doing so would trigger strict fundraising rules and limits — but all signs indicate she intends to run again, including an already huge campaign war chest.
Any challenger to Parker would be considered a significant underdog. The mayor has the power of incumbency, and can point to progress on her 2023 campaign promises to make the city safer and cleaner, not the least of which is a historically low homicide rate. Thousands of residents are getting their trash picked up twice a week, and polls consistently show that more Philadelphians say they think that the city is heading in the right direction now than when Parker took office.
She even seemed to recover politically after one of her lowest moments: the eight-day municipal worker strike last year that left so much garbage piling up that it became colloquially known as “the trash strike.” Parker, through her signature unyielding negotiating style, muscled her way to an agreement with the union.
Today, she is supported by most of the city’s elected officials and powerful organized labor groups. Ryan N. Boyer, the head of a coalition of deep-pocketed building trades unions, said recently that any challenger to Parker would face “annihilation.”
“This is Philadelphia, there are always people who want to run for mayor. But mayoral elections are decided on whether people think their city is moving in the right direction,” said Aren Platt, executive director of People for Parker, the mayor’s political campaign arm. “Mayor Parker has been underestimated her entire career, and she has a habit of proving people wrong.”
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker raises a finger with her call-and-response “One Philly, A United City” mantra ending her speech during a ceremonial meeting of the Pennsylvania Senate at the National Constitution Center across the mall from Independence Hall on May 5.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
However, some on the left see a coalescence of forces that could bolster their chances: national frustration with the Democratic establishment that has manifested in leftist wins, a widespread anti-incumbent sentiment, and liberal rage toward President Donald Trump, whom Parker has largely avoided maligning publicly.
“If you just have the right candidates that are able to speak to the dissatisfaction of Democratic voters in Philadelphia,” Cea said, “I do think [Parker] is in trouble.”
But the biggest question for Philadelphia progressives in the approaching mayoral race remains: Who could be their candidate?
The potential challengers
Jack Inacker, a Democratic strategist based in Philadelphia, said there are few, if any, challengers to Parker who could pull off a win in 2027.
“The progressive infrastructure now has built up in a way where, if you squint really hard, you can see a path to a progressive challenger,” Inacker said. “The problem is that [Parker] is one big mistake away from being beatable, but she’s not beatable yet. And people know that.”
Candidates have plenty of time to decide. Paperwork to get on the ballot likely would not be due until March.
Perhaps the most talked-about potential challenger so far isDistrict Attorney Larry Krasner, the city’s most prominent progressive. He has not ruled out a run for mayor, and he has recently publicly criticized Parker and some of her closest allies.
Last week, he invited media to walk along with him while he hand-delivered a letter to the mayor’s suite in City Hall to express dissatisfaction with his office’s budget. Parker called the move “stunting.”
Platt, in a thinly veiled shot at Krasner, said in a statement that “what we’ve seen recently is too many politicians focused on generating headlines rather than solving problems: manufacturing controversy, looking for someone else to blame, and confusing political theater with leadership.”
District Attorney Larry Krasner greets supporters during his election night party at the Pipeline Philly coworking space on May 20, 2025, in Philadelphia. Krasner defeated challenger Patrick Dugan both in the Democratic primary and in the general election.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Krasner has won citywide election three times, twice winning reelection in landslide fashion. He is one of the nation’s most well-known progressive prosecutors and one of the city’s most polarizing figures. His base of support includes the city’s left, as well as a large swath of Black voters and elected officials.
But it was Parker’s political family — the vaunted Northwest Coalition of the some of the city’s most storied Black politicians — that was key to Krasner’s political ascent. Challenging Parker could be seen as a betrayal by some in the voter-rich northwest corner of the city, and his base there could fracture.
Krasner has also in the past struggled to keep up with his opponents in fundraising. Any challenger to Parker would likely need to bring in well over a million dollars, a sum of money that Krasner has never raised before.
Several other elected officials are seen as potential challengers to Parker, including several sitting members of City Council.
Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who represents the city at-large, has long been rumored to have ambitions for higher office. He has been elected citywide twice, and recentlywas among the most vocal opponents of the Philadelphia School District’s controversial plan to close 17 schools.
And he has allies both on the left and in the city’s business community, the latter of which has been frustrated with a Parker administration policy shift that increased the tax burden on small businesses.
Councilmembers Isaiah Thomas (from left), Curtis Jones Jr., and Jamie Gauthier protest at an April school board meeting as the board prepared to vote on the facilities plan.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Thomas said last week that he is focused on his job in City Council.
“That job right now is hard enough, looking at the affordability crisis, the crisis around public education, and other issues that we’re facing,” he said.
There’s also two-term Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who represents parts of West Philadelphia and has positioned herself as one of Council’s chief critics of the Parker administration. She said earlier this year that running for mayor “could be interesting one day,” but that she would not run if she did not see a clear path to victory.
She said in a statement that her focus is “finishing what we started on City Council, especially building affordable housing.”
Gauthier added: “But it’s clear Philadelphians are hungry for leaders who will put working families above big business.”
And there is Councilmember Kendra Brooks, the de facto leader of the city’s left-leaning coalition and a member of the progressive Working Families Party. Brooks, who represents the city at-large, has twice campaigned and won citywide.
A political adviser to Brooks said she is focused on her work in City Hall and running for reelection to Council, as well as “building Black progressive political power through the WFP.”
What do progressive gains mean for the 2027 mayor’s race?
Parker’s camp sees strength in her numbers.
In March, the mayor’s political arm commissioned a poll that found that 60% of respondents approve of the job Parker is doing as mayor, while 33% disapprove. Her approval rating was even higher among Black voters, older voters, and residents of Northwest Philadelphia — one of the highest-turnout areas of the city.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker (right) hugs Rachel O’Neal, executive of the Friends Childcare Center, at the unveiling of a new playful learning hub at Sisters Cities Park on Thursday.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Cornell Belcher, one of the top Democratic pollsters in the nation, has conducted polling for Parker dating back to her mayoral campaign. He said that a key indicator of voter attitude toward an incumbent mayor is the number of residents who think the city is heading in the right direction.
The results this spring, he noted, were “dramatically different” from when Parker was first campaigning for the office. In April 2023, Belcher measured that 66% of Democratic primary voters in the city were dissatisfied with the direction of Philadelphia.
Today, he said, 62% are satisfied.
Still, other polls have shown potential warning signs for Parker.
In three polls that were conducted this spring in the 3rd Congressional District and obtained by The Inquirer, an average of 48% of Democratic primary voters said they had a favorable view of Parker and 41% had an unfavorable view. The polls, which measured voter attitudes in roughly half the city, were conducted by three different firms, and they were commissioned by different campaigns and organizations.
Approval and favorability ratings are not apples-to-apples. An approval rating is often considered a more reliable data point for an incumbent executive, because it measures attitudes about job performance, not reputation.
Belcher, who founded his polling firm 25 years ago and polled for former President Barack Obama, said he would not draw conclusions from polls of a congressional district that includes only half the city and was taken in a different election year. And he questioned other pollsters’ methodology in Philadelphia, a city that is tricky to survey.
“A city like Philadelphia, with all its different racial and ethnic groups, getting that right is hard,” Belcher said. “The more diverse an area is, the more work you have to put into getting it right.”
Chris Rabb greets supporters on election day. He is arriving to his polling place to vote, Grace Epiphany Episcopal Church, on May 19.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
The results of last month’s congressional race energized progressives, in part because Rabb performed well in parts of the city that Parker carried when she won the crowded open Democratic mayoral primary in 2023. An Inquirer analysis found that more than a quarter of Rabb’s votes came from divisions that voted for Parker in 2023.
Rabb won his Democratic primary in a race that included three front-runners. But mayoral reelection battles in Philadelphia have historically been head-to-head, meaning the winner will look to reach 50% of the vote, a more challenging proposition for an ideological candidate.
“The mayor is organized, and her coalition across Philadelphia is strong,” Platt said. “They may not be active on Reddit, but they’re there, and they believe in what she’s doing because they can see the results in their neighborhoods.”
Former City Councilmember Jannie Blackwell, who has been a fixture of Philadelphia politics for decades, is no longer a Democratic wardleader. State Sen. Sharif Street — weeks after losing the city’s heated congressional race — just became one.
And the Rev. Lewis Nash Sr., who in 2024 was removed as leader of the 47th Ward after The Inquirer reported he was recorded making anti-LGBTQ+ remarks, has returned to the post after being reelected in his North Philadelphia ward Monday night.
Meanwhile, the upstart group Wards That Work, which was backed by progressive activists and sought to recruit hundreds of people to run for committee openings in the May 19 Democratic primary, claimed victories in six wards that were previously seen as aligned with the party establishment or more centrist Democrats.
Despite those notable gains,fewer than one-third of Philadelphia’s 69 Democratic ward leaders are seen as closely aligned with the party’s left wing.
That means Bob Brady, who has led the local Democratic Party since 1986 and is seen by many as the embodiment of the political old guard, will likely coast to victory in party leadership elections — decided by the ward leaders — next week, securing an 11th term as chair of the Democratic City Committee.
The party’s internal politics have become a key battleground in the fight between progressive upstarts and the Democratic establishment. There has also been a renewed push to grow the number of “open wards” — those that allow committeepeople to vote on political endorsements rather than allowing ward leaders to decide unilaterally.
Brady, a former U.S. representative, has over the last few weeks struck a conciliatory tone regarding the party’s left wing after clashing with activists in a series of elections, most notably when the party sought to punish committeepeople who endorsed the elections of Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke from the progressive Working Families Party.
“These labels — Working Families, Reclaim, socialist — the best labels they have that I love is they’re Democrats,” he said in an interview, referring in part to Reclaim Philadelphia, a group inspired by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential runs that organized the local progressive movement’s first successful ward takeovers in 2018.
Now, he said, he is focused on unity as Democrats hope to make gains in this year’s midterm elections and defeat candidates aligned with President Donald Trump in future elections.
“We can come together and beat that nut in the White House,” Brady said.
Philadelphia Democratic Party Chairman Bob Brady (left) and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (right) listen as Mayor Cherelle L. Parker speaks in support of State Sen. Sharif Street at a get-out-the-vote rally at the Church of Christian Compassion in West Philadelphia Monday, May 18, 2026 the day before Tuesday’s Democratic primary election for the 3rd Congressional District.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Earlier this year, however, Brady acknowledged that the Democratic City Committee funded mailers opposing some of the committeepeople backed by Wards That Work, and many on the left are still hoping for major changes in the local party.
District Attorney Larry Krasner, for instance, recently called on Brady to resign, and State Rep. Chris Rabb, a democratic socialist who last month won the Democratic primary for an open Philadelphia congressional seat, has emerged as a leading critic.
Rabb beat Street, the party’s endorsed candidate, in the 3rd Congressional District race, and has accused the city committee of neglecting the work of turning out the vote, instead concerning itself with backroom dealings among party insiders.
State Rep. Chris Rabb greets supporters on election day. He is arriving to his polling place to vote, Grace Epiphany Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Tuesday, May 19, 2026.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Rabb has not explicitly called for Brady to resign. But he is now calling for a dramatic overhaul of the party, from its leaders to its bylaws to the city’s antiquated ward boundaries.
“What I’m asking for is for the ward leaders — whatever candidate is running for chair, whether it’s Bob Brady or anyone else — that they demand that their first order of business is to overhaul the bylaws by Labor Day [to focus] on building a local party built on transparency integrity and inclusion,” Rabb said in an interview last week.
Progressives make gains
On paper, Philadelphia’s Democratic Party structure is bottom-up. Every four years, during the primaries of presidential midterm cycles, registered Democrats elect two committeepeople from their precincts, as they did this year on May 19. The committeepeople then elect neighborhood-level ward leaders, and the ward leaders in turn elect the top officials in the city party, including Brady.
But in practice, many critics of the city’s old guard see a top-down reality, with Brady and other high-ranking city officials controlling the party’s agenda.
Progressives are hoping to wrest control of the party from the establishment or to force reforms that make it more hospitable to left-leaning candidates. But it remains an uphill battle given the diffuse nature of the party system.
Among the notable progressive wins in Monday night’s ward elections:
5th Ward (Center City): Ryan Alsayegh, a political consultant currently working for State Reps. Tarik Khan and Joe Hohenstein, unseated Mike Boyle.
25th Ward (Port Richmond, Kensington): Alexandria Mercedes Murphy, a neurophysiologist and volunteer with Reclaim Philadelphia, succeeded Tommy Johnson.
31st Ward (Fishtown, East Kensington): Molly Hartman, a staffer for Councilmember Rue Landau, faced no opponents in her bid to succeed Margaret Rzepski.
27th Ward (University City): Benjamin Moss-Horwitz, a staffer for State Rep. Rick Krajewski, won a contested race to succeed retiring ward leader Carol Jenkins, a party stalwart.
46th Ward (Squirrel Hill, Cedar Park): James Bridgeforth, a University of Delaware professor, ran an uncontested race to succeed Blackwell, who retired this year after defeating a progressive challenger for her ward in a contentious election four years ago.
In West Philadelphia’s 60th Ward, State Rep. Amen Brown, a centrist Democrat, was unseated by Lorraine White-Johnson.
White-Johnson, who had the backing of Wards That Work, said in an interview that she is not aligned with one faction and welcomes all Democrats. She added that she plans to explore opening up the ward but has not made formal plans to do so yet.
Philadelphia City Councilmember Cindy Bass on Thursday, September 11, 2025.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
In Mount Airy’s 22nd Ward, Councilmember Cindy Bass declared herself reelected to a new term in a controversial move by saying she won a contested voice vote of committeepeople and denying motions for a roll-call vote that could have clarified the results. Her opponent, Octavius Price, was backed by progressive organizers and said he plans to challenge the election.
Some notable ward election results did not involve major ideological shifts.
Nash, who on Tuesday denied having made the anti-LGBTQ+ comments that previously cost him his seat, won a three-way race to reclaim the 47th Ward.
“I forgive everybody that was involved with those unforeseen circumstances,” Nash said in an interview Tuesday. “To anyone that was offended by the alleged comments, forgive me and the person who made those comments, allegedly and falsely, and let’s move forward.”
In a statement, Street said he would “take a back-to-basics approach, listening to my neighbors about their concerns and filling vacant committee member seats.”
“Last month’s election results galvanized my belief that we need to build the party from the ground up,” Street said in a statement. “We need to increase voter turnout in Black communities, like North Philadelphia, by demonstrating every day that Democrats are fighting for them.”
Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this article.
The euphoria at Chris Rabb’s election night party last month hadn’t even started to wane before the democratic socialist and his supporters — dancing and hugging after capturing a rarely open Philadelphia seat in Congress — spoke of setting their sights even higher.
Taking on the city’s Democratic establishment to defeat a pair of more centrist candidates in the heated 3rd Congressional District race was a momentous win on its own. But the reckoning, they promised, wouldn’t be confined to Philadelphia’s borders.
“It’s going to change not just our city, but our entire commonwealth,” Rabb said in an interview amid the celebration at a Germantown banquet hall.
It was a sentiment echoed that night by key figures in Rabb’s coalition — from the head of the Working Families Party to Pittsburgh’s U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, the only other democratic socialist representing a part of Pennsylvania.
With the 2026 Pennsylvania Democratic primary in the rearview mirror, that conversation has broadly and quickly turned to the next biggest prize in the state: the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat John Fetterman.
The senator has not said whether he will run for a second six-year term in 2028. But in an unusual situation for an high-profile elected official, a robust intraparty competition to replace him is expected to start either way in the next year as Fetterman increasingly sides with Republicans and as polls show that his support among Democratic voters has nose-dived.
State Rep. Chris Rabb is hugged by his son, Issa Rabb, during his primary election night event at Victorian Banquet Hall on May 19.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Some Democrats who watched Rabb emerge from a competitive race, notching one of the left’s biggest wins yet in Pennsylvania, see an opportunity — one that extends the energy and momentum to boost a well-organized, progressive, anti-establishment candidate in the Senate primary.
Other strategists and activists say that’s a tall task, particularly in a swing state that rarely strays from electing more centrist politicians statewide.
“Anytime you have success, it breeds enthusiasm, which translates into more volunteers, into more money — everything you need to run a campaign,” said Mike Mikus, a Pittsburgh-based Democratic strategist. “But every election cycle is different. Every campaign’s different. The quality of candidates are different. And anybody who says that any one race signifies a permanent change within a party is mistaken.”
‘A huge impact on the political landscape of Pennsylvania’
In his campaign to succeed U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, Rabb, a five-term state lawmaker, won 44% of the vote. He was up against State Sen. Sharif Street, who had the backing of the city Democratic apparatus, and physician Ala Stanford, a political newcomer endorsed by Evans.
That progressive infrastructure — the coming together of different groups to knock doors, make calls to voters, and unleash a significant independent advertising campaign in a way that rivaled the official Democratic Party organization — is likely the most important way that the left can use the experience of Rabb’s campaign to replicate its success elsewhere, strategists said.
It’s a template that could have “a huge impact on the political landscape of Pennsylvania,” said Rotimi Adeoye, a Philadelphia-based Democratic strategist who worked in the office of former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
In a district packed with Democratic voters, Rabb’s ability to turn out progressive voters should draw the attention of anyone looking to win the state’s Democratic Senate primary in 2028, Adeoye said.
“If a Democrat running statewide can learn from some of these organizational groups to build a strong, relational and community-based organizing campaign in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs in Montgomery County, Bucks County — they’re going to have a really big chance of winning,” Adeoye said.
In a sign that those efforts could coalesce around a Senate candidate, one of the groups that helped usher Rabb to victory remains the only major Democratic entity in the state to have publicly started laying the groundwork for a challenge to Fetterman.
The Working Families Party, which backed Fetterman in the 2022 general election after originally endorsing State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta in the primary, said in November it would organize an effort to oust him. A “Primary Fetterman” website launched in January is equipped with a “Fetterman sell-out tracker” — highlighting his votes for Trump’s cabinet nominees and opposition to war powers resolutions that would rein in his military strikes, for example — and instructions for donors on how to request a refund from his campaign.
The website remains the extent of the group’s efforts so far to rally public support and back a new candidate, though its work is expected to pick up after this year’s midterm elections. For now, the party is looking forward to bringing new members who worked to elect Rabb into its fold.
“Our goal is always to keep building on the work we do each cycle and the success we have each cycle,” said Nick Gavio, the Working Families Party’s Mid-Atlantic communications director.
One PA, another statewide group in that progressive coalition, has not yet had internal discussions about the Senate race but it supports the Working Families Party’s position as a member of its steering committee, executive director Steve Paul said. He said more than 150 members of One PA mobilized for Rabb by talking to thousands of voters.
Winning a high-profile congressional race only helps add to that organizational infrastructure, making them “sharper for the next thing,” Paul said.
“I think it shifts what’s possible, politically — what people can envision,” he said.
Potential progressive roadblocks
Mikus said progressives have increasingly surpassed “more establishment Democrats” in their ability to run strong campaigns, including in his area of Western Pennsylvania where candidates like Lee have emerged in the last decade.
Democratic primary voters are also more progressive than they were 10 years ago, he said. But campaigning on a far-left — or a far-right — platform doesn’t often equate to success on a statewide level in Pennsylvania, a swing state where successful candidates tend to walk a “fine line” that appeals to both swing voters and a message that excites their partisan base, Mikus said.
“You’ve seen this time after time in presidential elections here in Pennsylvania,” Mikus said. “Hillary Clinton versus Bernie Sanders. Joe Biden versus Bernie Sanders. The vast majority of voters in Pennsylvania will go with the more mainstream Democrat.”
J.J. Balaban, a Philadelphia-based Democratic strategist and ad maker, said the party runs the risk of “drawing too big of a conclusion” based on a single election — particularly one like Rabb’s where candidates only needed to appeal to Democrats.
“Democrats really need to think hard about what it will take to win statewide in a purple state, which Pennsylvania clearly is,” Balaban said. “What it will take to win a general election in Pennsylvania is very, very different than what it will take to win in literally the most Democratic congressional district in the country.”
After recent years of tough losses — including the ousting of Casey by now-U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican — Democratic voters will likely have a “tremendous thirst for candidates who have a credible case to make that they can win the general election,” Balaban said.
Fetterman, whose office did not comment for this story, has insisted that Pennsylvania’s purple state status means he should appeal to both sides of the aisle and not demonize the other side.
“Look at the people that are winning the primaries in our party right now, and look at their views on Israel,” Fetterman said at an American Jewish Committee conference in Washington this week.
On stage with McCormick and the head of the Jewish advocacy organization, Fetterman painted Graham Platner, the expected Democratic nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Maine, as a “Nazi sympathizer” and connected him to Rabb.
“People also in our state, too. Rabb, he won, and he ran on being a very, very anti-Israel guy,” Fetterman said. “It’s actually a virtue [in the modern Democratic Party] … It’s heartbreaking for me. And if it isolates me, then so be it.”
Who might run?
Of the Democrats widely considered to be eyeing a campaign to replace Fetterman, the public jockeying has so far been limited to criticisms of the incumbent.
Former U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, a moderate who represented a suburban Pittsburgh district before Fetterman beat him in the 2022 Senate primary, has frequently lambasted him.
Conor Lamb speaks to the crowd at a town hall-style event organized by progressive groups at Central Penn College on June 22, 2025, in Enola, Pa. Marc Levy
And U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, who succeeded Lamb and leaned into progressive economic populism, has taken a less direct tack while noting the differences between himself and Fetterman over issues like Trump’s military interventions abroad. Deluzio has occasionally reposted others’ criticisms on social media — including one from Gavio, the Working Families Party spokesperson, last week that called Fetterman’s reversal on eliminating the filibuster “a new low” and “an indescribably massive backtrack from everything he ran on.”
None of the three have ruled out running.
Boyle is expected to weigh a Senate campaign vs. staying in the House to take a rare opportunity to lead the powerful budget committee if Democrats win the majority in November. Lamb, who’s remained highly active in Pennsylvania politics, said in an interview that he’s hoping to serve again and would run for office if he feels he “can be of service to the state.” Deluzio, who is also heavily involved in helping Democratic candidates across the state, said he’s focused on his reelection this year and that “we’ll see what 2028 holds.”
“I am not at all interested in seeing us lose this Senate election, and I certainly have gotten a lot of encouragement to look at 2028,” Deluzio said.
Progressives have also mentioned Lee, the Rabb ally who’s been a vocal member of the leftist wing on Capitol Hill while taking leadership roles in areas like securing the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
U.S. Reps. Summer Lee and Chris Deluzio, both Pittsburgh-area Democrats, speak outside the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County on May 28 after getting a tour of the facility, the largest detention center for undocumented immigrants in the Northeast.Sam Janesch / Staff
With potential candidates still several months away from making their decisions, it’s unclear who might try to take up the progressive mantle if Lee does not run, strategists say.
The field could also grow considerably. Other potential candidates could jump in, including the three other current Pennsylvania Democrats in Congress or former lawmakers like Susan Wild, who lost a swing congressional district in the Lehigh Valley in 2024. Wild said she’s “not ruling out” a run but she’s more interested in thinking about good female candidates in general since no woman has ever won a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat.
On the prospects of a battle between different factions of the party, Lamb said he believed Democrats had broadly learned a lesson — from Fetterman’s election in 2022, where he ran on being a reliable Democratic vote in the Senate — that was beyond ideological policy tests.
“Fetterman taught Democrats in Pennsylvania that you have to have a character test. Anybody can run around the state promising you these further left solutions, and that they’re going to be a thumb in the eye of the establishment, and they’re going to channel all your anger and dissatisfaction. And then that person can turn on you on a dime,” Lamb said. “The fact is that we have to evaluate our candidates based on whether they have integrity and they’re going to keep their word and, honestly, whether they have the work ethic to be a senator day in, day out.”
