Philadelphia’s 2023 Mayoral Candidates

This guide was created by Reclaim Philadelphia and we assigned grades to Mayoral candidates based on their alignment with Alliance for a Just Philadelphia’s (AJP) policy positions. AJP is a coalition of over 27 progressive organizations in the city, including Reclaim Philadelphia, that fight year round for social justice. To see the policy positions in the AJP platform, visit this link.

Candidates should support increasing taxes on the wealthy, ending corporate handouts like the cuts to the business income and revenue tax, and repealing the 10-year tax abatement for luxury housing. Support funding of community institutions to pre-2008 crisis levels by increasing funding for public libraries by $15 million a year, increasing funding for Park and Recreation by $55 million, and investing in sanitation and clean up in Black and Brown neighborhoods. Support creating new workforce training programs for marginalized youth, funding a public bank, and enacting a law to force wealthy non-profits like Penn to make payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTS).

• Co-sponsored legislation to create a wealth tax in 2022 

• Opposes reducing business taxes

• Opposes tax abatement for luxury housing and wrote legislation in 2019 that reformed abatement policy, effectively reducing new residential tax breaks by 50%

• Supports PILOTS and increasing funding of city departments and programs like sanitation and cleanup, libraries, and Parks and Recreation. 

• Wrote legislation in 2020 that created a permanent city Department of Labor to enforce city laws regarding wages, hours, and working conditions.

• Proposed an austerity budget in 2020 that maintained or reduced funding of all city departments and programs. 

• Opposes the creation of a wealth tax

• Supports cutting the business income and revenue tax

• Plans to promote workforce development in partnership with the Community College of Philadelphia using federal funding.

• Does not think PILOTS should be considered at this time

• Supports cuts to business taxes

• Supports creating new internship programs to train youth for the workforce

• We were unable to find information for his positions on other policy issues

• Supports tax abatement for luxury housing

•  Supports a three-year abatement for the business income and revenue tax

•  We were unable to find information for his positions on other policy issues

• Proposed legislation as council member to lower business taxes in order to attract more corporate presence to the city

• Supports lowering wage taxes 

• Introduced legislation in 2021 to cut parking tax, which would have reduced city revenue by $130 million

• Supports creating workforce development programs youth employment opportunities through partnerships with corporations

• Led efforts to cut business taxes as council member in order to attract more corporate presence to the city

• Declined to recuse himself from consequential legislation about the 10-year tax abatement, which directly enriches his business interests

• Opposes the wealth tax

Candidates should support quality, fully and fairly funded schools that transform the lives of Black and Brown and working class students and their communities. Therefore, candidates must support reforms that make the school board more representative, transparent and accountable; appoint school board members who will halt charter expansion and support approaches to safety that do not criminalize students; and prioritize toxic school clean-up, the recruitment of staff of color, and expanding sanctuary schools. To fund these priorities, candidates must be willing to tax the rich.

• Led a 17-year fight for local control of the school board

• Co-sponsored legislation to create a wealth tax in 2022 and introduced a package of bills to restructure and restrict the ten-year tax abatement

• Committed to appointing school board members who share her vision 

• Led the charge to install hydration stations in schools ensuring that students and staff have safe drinking water. 

• Plans to introduce a Green New Deal for Philly Schools which would immediately address dangerous conditions and create a 10-year plan to modernize all schools 

• Opposed rampant charter expansion, for-profit charter school operators, and all cyber charters as councilwoman

• Plans to attract and retain high quality staff, particularly staff of color

• Plans to appoint school board members who represent the diverse experiences of Philadelphians and hold board members accountable to meeting board goals by replacing board members if goals go unmet. 

• Has not said if she will consider potential board members’ views on charter schools 

• Has not said if she supports a wealth tax to fund schools.

• Has no actionable plan to improve schools 

• Opposes wealth tax to fund our schools

• We were unable to find information for his positions on other policy issues

• Stresses financial literacy, technology, and entrepreneurship. 

• Opposes a wealth tax to fund our schools. 

• Committed to appointing at least two charter advocates to the school board

• Wants longer school days and year-round schooling

• Wants to increase partnerships for high schools to prepare students to enter trades

• Voted for legislation to increase funding for schools as council member

• Opposes a wealth tax to fund our schools 

• Has not shared her priorities for appointing school board members.

• Supports the expansion of charter schools and plans to appoint charter supporters to school board

• Has received significant funding from charter advocates. 

• Does not value alternative and non-criminalizing approaches to safety. 

• Has not said if he supports a wealth tax to fund our schools

Candidates should support investments in our public infrastructure, requiring an urgent shift away from fossil fuels, and planning for a livable future. These steps include efficient waste collection in all neighborhoods, funding the Community Health Act, and making PGW conform to the City’s goal of phasing out fossil fuels.

• Voted against Liquified Natural Gas plant in South Philly and has pledged to appoint members to city commissions that who will support AJP’s platform

• Advocated for and championed increased funding for tree canopy, including winning nearly $2 million to begin implementation of the tree plan

• introduced the Community Health Act, to advance environmental justice

• Proposed a Transit Equity Plan and passed the Commuter Benefit Act to encourage use of public transit

• Fought sheriff’s sales of lots through tax liens, protected community gardens and has secured hundreds of thousand of dollars in the budget to fund the Urban Agriculture Strategic Plan

• Has pledged to appoint PFMC and PGC members “with significant expertise in moving away for fossil fuels.” 

• As Mayor Nutter’s Budget Director, was point person in attempted sale of PGW. As Gas Commissioner, supported LNG plant in South Philly.

• Has pledged to support Councilmember Gilmore Richardson’s bills regarding our tree canopy, prioritizing neighborhoods subject to historic disinvestment.

• Has pledged to improve working conditions of sanitation crews, increase support for composting programs, and increase the number of L&I inspectors and Streets Department SWEEPS officers to fight illegal dumping.

• Has pledged to create equity in on-time trash pickup, which currently declines as the income level of a neighborhood goes down.

• Did not attend Green Living Plan Mayoral Forum on March 29

• Plans to “prioritize” green space “in new and ongoing development projects” through “incentives to builders and developers”

• At two different mayoral forums has said he’ll essentially end the Land Bank and sell all vacant buildings to private developers

• No information on PFMC or PGC appointments

• Will not commit to PGW meeting City’s 2050 climate goals because he fears it would “put people who cannot afford to transition away from fossil fuels at risk of becoming unhoused.”

• Did not attend Green Living Plan Mayoral Forum on March 29

• Pledges to ensure full implementation of Councilmember Gilmore Richardson’s tree canopy bills

• Promises to fully fund parks program   

• Pledges “to clean every lot in my first 100 days

• Voted for Councilmember Gilmore Richardson’s tree canopy bills, but favors a “balanced” approach with developers.

• Supports dedicated bike lanes and wants to make IndeGo pricing more equitable.

• Plans to explore using American Rescue Plan dollars in order to buy back $10 million in liens to protect community gardens and lots from sheriff sales.

• no information on PFMC or PGC appointments, but as Councilmember supported PGW plan for LNG plant in South Philadelphia

• No legislative record of note on environmental issues

• Did not respond to Grid Magazine questionnaire

• Did not attend Green Living Plan Mayoral Forum on March 29

• Website has little except a vague commitment to “fight blight”

Candidates should protect our communities’ right to reproductive, mental health, and harm reduction services while advancing the fight for Medicare for All.  Support expanding and ensuring access to police-free mental health support programs; support and expedite the implementation and sustainability of community-based overdose prevention services; support the creation of a community health worker program; and work to pass legislation that defends abortion access and protects anyone seeking reproductive care.

• Wrote legislation expanding the city’s mobile mental health crisis response capacity and establishing a mental health worker first responder unit to decrease reliance on police

• Sponsored legislation prohibiting discrimination in reproductive care and a resolution urging Congress and the PA General Assembly to reinstate abortion coverage for publicly-insured women

• Supports holistic, citywide approach to addressing overdose crisis including harm reduction methods.

• Sponsored Council resolutions urging Congress to pass Medicare for All and preserve the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and Medicaid expansion.

• Supports increased access to community services and connecting users to rehabilitative care

• Supports increased police presence including law enforcement led “drug market intervention” targeting dealers in affected neighborhoods

• Does not mention or prioritize police-free mental health crisis units

• Has expressed opposition in the past to overdose prevention centers but has not “100% ruled them out either.”

• We were unable to find information for her positions on other policy issues

• Called for increased reliance on social workers rather than police to address mental health and substance use problems

• Called for bringing persons with substance use addictions to mental health court to ensure compliance with treatment

• Opposes overdose prevention centers

• Housed federally-funded medical clinics providing primary care services in his grocery store

• We were unable to find information for his positions on other policy issues

• Plans to declare a state of emergency for Kensington’s opioid crisis to bring more services and housing for people with addictions

• Increase policing in areas affected by opioid crisis 

• Voted for a Council resolution urging Congress to pass Medicare for All 

• Opposes overdose prevention centers; voted against plans for a safe injection site in the city in 2019

• Sponsored Council resolutions urging Congress to pass Medicare for All and preserve the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and Medicaid

• Supports mental health and substance abuse support programs 

• Opposes overdose prevention centers as a means to promote harm reduction

• Co-sponsored legislation in the PA Legislature that expands certain access points to healthcare, such as postpartum Medicaid access and prescription drug benefits for seniors.

• We were unable to find information for his positions on other policy issues

Candidates should support funding for more affordable housing, expanded access to housing for the homelessness, and programs for home repairs and weatherization. To protect renters, they should support passing a rent control policy, fully funding “right to counsel,” and making the eviction diversion program permanent. They should also oppose the development of a new Sixers stadium in Chinatown and support reforming the Land Bank to make it easier for communities to acquire vacant properties.

• Led the effort to create the eviction diversion program in 2020

• Authored legislation that gives renters a right to legal counsel in 2019

• Authored legislation to provide more funding for services for the homeless and the creation of more affordable housing

• Supports a rent stabilization policy

• Expressed “extreme skepticism” and would not support Sixers’ Chinatown stadium proposal based on what is known about it today

• Supports developing 8,500 housing units on vacant land but has not committed to affordability policies for these developments

• Supports expanding the eviction diversion program

• Plans to increase the number of available temporary, transitional, and permanent housing units for the chronically homeless

• Opposes a rent control policy 

• Expressed support for developing a new Sixers stadium in Chinatown depending on the details of the proposal

• Supports increasing affordable housing by providing incentives to developers

• Supports creation of more single-room occupancy residences

• Opposes a rent control policy

• Described the Sixers’ Chinatown stadium proposal as intriguing. According to Philadelphia Board of Ethics probe, may have received $250,000 dark money contribution from team.

• Authored the Restore, Repair, Renew program, a new City Council policy that provides subsidized loans for home repair and weatherization

• Expressed support for expanding green space and community control of vacant land

• Opposed legislation providing community control over public vacant land, which undermined the scope and effectiveness of the bill

• Opposes a rent control policy

• Declined take a position about the proposed Sixers’ stadium in Chinatown

• Abstained from the 2019 vote to require just cause for eviction

• Led an effort with Helen Gym in 2016 to provide more funding to address youth homelessness.

• Co-sponsored a bill to create an eviction legal defense fund in 2019

• Opposes a rent control policy

• Supports developing a new Sixers stadium in Chinatown depending on the details of the proposal

• Expressed support for developing more affordable housing with a focus on attracting private money to incentivize investment

• Supports developing a new Sixers stadium in Chinatown depending on the details of the proposal

• We were unable to find information for his positions on other policy issues

Candidates must commit to : 1) reduce our jail population by 50%; (2) end stop and frisk; (3) work to ensure proper expansion of mobile crisis units; (4) redirect resources from policing to services that keep us safe, such as housing, after school programs, violence interrupters and credible messengers, and mental health resources– prioritizing the zip codes most impacted by gun violence.

• Led efforts to establish the city’s first mobile crisis units for people in need of emergency mental health services, allowing police officers to focus on solving high-priority crimes

• Emphasizes that better policing is just one part of an effective public safety agenda 

• Supports a focus on the blocks, zip codes, and schools most impacted by gun violence

• Authored legislation to improve public services as part of a violence prevention strategy

• Supports putting more current police officers on the street

• Plans to work with community anti-violence leaders

• Plans to create programs for therapy and job training/employment

• Plans to escalates disorderly conduct from a fine to an arrestable offense

• Plans to enlarge the police force 

• We were unable to find information for his positions on other policy issues

• Plans to recruit more police officers

• Plans to get illegal guns and illegal vehicles off the street

• Supports diverting gun crimes away from DA Krasner’s office to state/federal level

• Supports stop and frisk

• Plans to crack down on retail theft

• Supports more use of “legal” stop and frisk. 

• Plans to put more police on the streets to fight violence

• Authored legislation in 2012 that strengthens victims’ rights by permitting expert testimony regarding victim behavior in cases of sexual assault

• Introduced legislation to prohibit police from using deception to coerce confessions from juveniles.

• Asked the governor to mobilize the National Guard to fight crime in Philadelphia

• Tried to reinstate a ‘3 strikes’ law 

• Voted to hold Philly DA Larry Krasner in contempt