The Philadelphia Citizen: Your Democratic Committee Wants … You
The Philadelphia Citizen · April 10, 2026 · By Jon Geeting
The Citizen's explainer on committeeperson races, the smallest elections that matter in city politics. Heavy turnover means at least 1,018 of the city's 3,406 committee seats will change hands in 2026 no matter how anyone votes, and the people elected May 19 pick ward leaders in June, who in turn pick the party chair. Reclaim Philadelphia runs through the history Geeting tells: the 2022 effort to elect Sergio Cea as 46th Ward leader over incumbent Jannie Blackwell, the chaotic reorganization meeting where Blackwell kept the post anyway, and the same cohort trying again this year, including neighborhood organizer David Evans in the 32nd Ward.