Photo: Councilwoman Cherelle Parker on May 22, 2018 announcing Olney Recreation Center’s being an early site for the City’s Rebuild program, via Flickr
Pennsylvanians took to the polls to elect various local candidates on Nov. 7, including a seat for the Pennsylvanian Supreme Court as well as Philadelphia Mayor following Mayor Jim Kenny’s final term.
Dan McCaffery was declared the winner of the Supreme Court seat around 11:00 p.m. on election night. A Philadelphia native, McCaffery, the democratic candidate, won the race with over a six-point lead against republican candidate Carolyn Carluccio.
The race was heavily monitored not just within the commonwealth, but nationwide. As a swing state in presidential elections, Pennsylvania carries some importance in terms of its state body politics of abortion rights and voter rights. In an article by FOX43, the state Supreme Court dealt with a case regarding mail-in ballots after the 2020 presidential election.
In an interview with The Quad before the election, McCaffery gave his statement on the key issues involved in this race. In response to how the Constitution ought to be interpreted, McCaffery responded that it should be interpreted in accordance within its current context, implying that he believes in a more “nonoriginalist” or “living” interpretation of the Constitution. Additionally, McCaffery said, “once you get elected judge, you have to hang up your partisanship.”
Now the commonwealth’s seven Supreme Court seats are filled with a 5-2 majority for Democrats after the passing of Chief Justice Max Baer last year, a Democrat.
In a more local election, Philadelphia has voted for Cherelle Parker as its 100th mayor and first woman to hold the position in the city’s history. She has served as a state representative for northwest Philadelphia for 10 years and in the Philadelphia City Council since 2015 before her bid for mayor. Parker’s extended history in the county’s politics has helped her campaign image. “I’m Philly-born, I’m Philly bred and I’ll be Philadelphian ‘til I’m dead,” she said according to an AP News article detailing her win on Tuesday.
Her win comes with a landslide fifty-point lead against Republican candidate David Oh, another former city council member. Oh’s campaign was the first GOP nominee for mayor since Sam Katz in the 2000 mayoral election, according to the Inquirer. If he had won, Oh would have been the first Republican mayor in Philadelphia since Bernard Samuel left office in 1952.
Parker’s campaign for mayor relied heavily on her life story growing up in Philadelphia and her reliance on the community. Deciding to emphasize her background as a recipient of food stamps and survivor of an impoverished community, she prides herself in her authenticity and as a way to connect to her voters.
Although Parker was the popular Democratic candidate in the 2022 primaries, some still criticize her public stances on crime reduction and charter schools prior to the election. These criticisms, detailed by the Inquirer, come from left-leaning voters who are worried about her previous comments during her campaign on involving the National Guard in Kensington as well as an openness to charter schools in an effort to give Philadelphians more “quality seats” in schools.
Gaven Mitchell is a third-year History major with a Journalism minor. GM1001024@wcupa.edu