Reclaim Philadelphia’s Citywide Committee invites you to support our member endorsed candidates for Philadelphia’s General Election on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. We’ve also detailed some recommendations in races and ballot questions below that were not part of our member endorsement process back in the primary.
Governor and Lieutenant Governor
Josh Shapiro & Austin Davis (#101)
Reclaim’s Citywide Committee recommends Josh Shapiro and Austin Davis for re-election for Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Josh Shapiro has been a long time supporter of unions, reproductive rights, raising the minimum wage, and expanding health care. Earlier this year, we saw Trump’s Supreme Court gut the voting rights act. Afterwards, we watched in horror as Republican led states raced to gerrymander voting maps to suppress Black and Brown voters. We believe we must protect Shapiro’s veto power should Pennsylvania try to do the same in the near future. He has also promised to veto any legislation that attacks reproductive rights and has stood up for public education when he vetoed legislation for private school vouchers in 2023.
As we did in 2022, we view this election as harm reduction while we fight for the world we want. The biggest threat in Pennsylvania is allowing a MAGA republican and election denier like Stacy Garrity to become governor. Unlike Garrity, Shapiro has consistently denounced the Republican backed Iran war and it's the costs that have been passed on to Pennsylvanians.
In 2022, Austin Davis became Pennsylvania’s first Black Lieutenant Governor and is our nation’s youngest sitting lieutenant governor. He has led efforts that brought millions of dollars in violence intervention and prevention and re-established Pennsylvania’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention. He has been committed to second chances for justice impacted individuals and has increased staffing to process pardon applications. His opponent Jason Richey, who is supported by the National Association for Gun Rights, would send us backwards when it comes to gun violence prevention. He has also committed to reduce government regulations to expand natural gas production that would be a disaster for climate justice efforts.
US Congress
3rd District - Chris Rabb (#102)
In the May primary, our movement scored a huge electoral victory when our member endorsed candidate Chris Rabb won to become the Democratic nominee. You can read that endorsement here. He defeated a well funded field of centrists candidates by running boldly on a platform to abolish ice, pass medicare for all, and push peace as policy so we can end the us funded genocide in gaza and war in Iran. With no Republicans having filed to run against him, we thought our work was done. But it’s not.
The Forward Party Victory Fund is supporting Independent candidate Dennis Mahoney to challenge Rabb’s victory. The Super PAC, led by registered Republican Craig Snyder, says they are supporting centrist candidates like Mahoney across the country. Mahoney’s website and campaign are devoid of any of the policy differences that were litigated in the primary. The reality is we don’t know where he stands on any of the important issues that set the candidates apart in the primary. As a humanitarian aid worker we expected Mahoney to have positions on Trump’s wars, DOGE’s work to cancel aid programs, or Trump’s dismantling of USAID. But there is nothing to be found. In the primary, Philadelphians made it clear that we were tired of status quo centrists and we needed someone different. In this general election we encourage 3rd District voters to finish the job and send a bold and transformational leader like Chris Rabb to DC to serve as Philly’s first movement squad member!
Senator in the General Assembly
4th District - Art Haywood (#103)
Our Citywide Committee recommends we re-elect Art Haywood for State Senator. Art Haywood is the OG progressive Philly Senator that cleared a path for movement leaders like our own Nikil Saval. He organizes and holds weekly vigils on Mondays outside of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Philadelphia. He has supported progressive tax reform like the Fair Share Tax Plan introduced by State Rep Chris Rabb. He has also championed the Dignity Agenda, which is a legislative framework that would raise the minimum wage, invest in green energy and jobs, and tackle gender inequalities in Pennsylvania like Black maternal health.
His Republican opponent Todd Johnson, believes that our public schools and SEPTA don’t need more funding but more oversight. He wants to increase drilling in Pennsylvania and has said that abortion and LGBT rights are not “high on his radar.”
Representative in the General Assembly
We endorsed several movement squad leaders in the May primary who won their races and face no opponents in the general election. You can read those endorsements here.
170th District - Rob Gurtcheff (#104)
We recommend voters elect Rob Gurtcheff - a health insurance fraud investigator, kidney donor, scout leader, and an Army veteran. As a veteran, Rob knows that when the wealthy and powerful few start wars, people pay the price at the pump and the grocery store. Rob is running on a platform to lower utility costs, make billionaries pay their fair share, and to get more funding for SEPTA, the roads in Northeast, and our public schools. This is a race Reclaim has invested in to flip a Northeast seat held by a MAGA republican and increase our one vote majority in Pennsylvania’s State House.
Rob’s opponent Martina White is an election denier and was the lone Philly State Representative who signed a letter to Congress to challenge Pennsylvania’s electoral votes. Despite living in an immigrant rich district, White is a fierce opponent of immigrant rights. She introduced legislation that would hold sanctuary cities, like Philadelphia, criminally and financially liable. And she’s even been caught on camera yelling at immigrant organizers from our movement allies at Juntos. We believe Martina White does not reflect the values of Philadelphians and is dangerous for Pennsylvania.
172nd District - Sean M. Dougherty (#104)
We recommended publicd Sean Dougherty in 2024 after he primaried Kevin Boyle. At the time Boyle had made a lot of headlines for embarrassing and abusive behavior that put this seat in jeopardy of being flipped. We are glad we supported him because he’s been a consistent ally when it comes to workers rights and SEPTA funding. While he has no opponent in the general, we recommend everyone in his Northeast District support him for re-election on Tuesday.
177th District - Joe Hohenstein (#104)
Our Citywide Committee enthusiastically encourages our members to re-elect Joe Hohenstein for State Representative. Joe was part of the first slate of State Representatives Reclaim endorsed in 2018. In that race he flipped a seat Republicans had held for 34 years! As a former immigration attorney, he has been a solid ally when it comes to immigrant rights and his platform supports ending systemic racism and mass incarceration. He believes in fully funded public schools and charter school accountability. He wants to hold polluters accountable and invest in renewable energy.
His opponent Robyn Bird was a political coordinator for Trump’s 2024 Presidential campaign and has criticized Hohenstein’s support of our immigrant neighbors. She supports charter schools and is running as a tough-on-crime candidate in a time when Philly has seen a record decrease in homicides and gun violence. We are confident that Hohenstein can win and encourage all our Riverwards members to re-elect him on Tuesday.
Ballot Questions
Question #1 - Vote NO
Ballot Question 1: Should the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to revise the City’s contracting procedures to allow for bid preferences and set-asides for small businesses; modify the threshold and standards for contracts that can be set aside for small and local businesses; and grant the Procurement Department and the City Solicitor discretion on bond requirements for certain construction projects?
For decades, Philadelphia had a goal of awarding up to 35% of city contracts to minority, women, and disabled-owned businesses. But last October, Stephen Miller’s nonprofit America First Legal sued Philadelphia as part of Trump's attacks on DEI. In response, Mayor Cherelle Parker put forward an executive order that changed the language to have preferences go to small businesses instead. While we all agree that we should invest more in small local purchasing power, we wish the Parker administration would fight for DEI like it rightfully deserves. We worry that a charter change, which essentially is a change to Philly’s constitution, would hinder attempts to return to previous contracting practices after Trump is gone. We also weren’t convinced that enough minority, women, and disabled-owned businesses would benefit under this change. That’s why our Citywide Committee voted to recommend NO on this ballot question.
After we released our recommendation, the offices of some City Councilmembers reached out to discuss the ballot measure and pushed us to consider another way of looking at this question: Ignore how we got here and focus solely on the question of will this benefit small and local businesses — which it can. While respecting the votes of our leadership, we wanted to present this as another view on this ballot question.
Question #2 - Vote YES
Ballot Question 2: Shall the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to establish and define the functions of Creative Philadelphia, an office headed by the Chief Cultural Officer to promote the City’s arts, culture, and creative economy sector?
This ballot measure introduced by previously endorsed Councilmember Isaiah Thomas has broad support. This would make Creative Philadelphia a permanent city office because it currently only exists at the will of the Mayor. Philadelphia ranks last in the nation when it comes to funding art, moving from 7% of the city budget in 2019 down to just 1% in 2024 under Mayor Cherella Parker. We have consulted with many City Councilmembers about this question and everyone we spoke with had nothing but positive things to say about the office as well as Valerie Gay who leads it.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT VOTING
Verify your voter Registration: Even if you are a regular voter, it’s always good to verify your registration. You can only vote where you are currently registered to vote which may not be where you currently reside. The deadline to register to vote or update your voter registration has passed.
If voting by mail: If you still have your mail-in ballot it is too late to send by mail. Return it to the Board of Elections in City Hall, the closest 24/7 Ballot Drop Off Box, or the closest Satellite Election Office by 8pm on Tues Nov 3, Election Day, not your polling place. The deadline for the vote by mail application has passed.
Make your mail-in ballot count: 1) Mark your ballot with a black or blue pen. 2) Seal it in the secrecy envelope. 3) Seal the secrecy envelope into the return envelope. Ballots without the secrecy envelope will not be counted! 4) Sign and date the return envelope.
Already voted: Check if anyone you know who voted by mail isn’t on the flawed ballot list. And triple your vote — Text 3 friends, family, or neighbors in Philly to make sure they’re voting for Reclaim endorsed and recommended candidates this election.
Get all your voting resources for the upcoming election and reclaim your vote here!
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