A Change Election?

From left, candidates, State Rep. Morgan Cephas; physician David Oxman; State Rep. Chris Rabb; physician Ala Stanford and State Sen. Sharif Street appear at a forum hosted by the 9th Ward Democratic Committee in Mt. Airy Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025 in Philadelphia. (Tom Gralish /The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)

Depending on who you ask, Tuesday’s Pennsylvania Primary elections either represent a potential change in Philadelphia politics, or what happens when voter apathy goes to its obvious conclusion.

By Denise Clay-Murray

On a warm, sunny Tuesday afternoon, Philadelphia’s voters went to the polls and made their voices heard during the Pennsylvania Primary.

But while many thought that the blue, cloudless skies and 94-degree temperatures would bring more voters to the polls, less than 23% — 22.13% in the interest of total accuracy — of the city’s eligible voters took the time to cast a ballot, according to the Philadelphia City Commissioners website.

That 22.13% participation led to the following results.

In Pennsylvania’s Second Congressional District, Incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle will face Republican Jessica Arriaga in the November general election. Both candidates won their unopposed primary elections Tuesday.

The race for Pennsylvania Governor was also set as incumbent Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his Republican challenger armed with an endorsement from President Donald Trump, Stacy Garrity sailed through their primaries unchallenged. Incumbent Lt. Gov. Austin Davis and Garrity’s running mate, Jason Richey also made it onto the November ballot.

State Rep. Chris Rabb defeated State Sen. Sharif Street, Dr. Ala Stanford, founder of the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium and tax attorney Shaun Griffin, for the right to represent the Third Congressional District on the Democratic ticket, taking a little over 44% of the vote. Should he win election, Rabb would replace U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, who announced that he would be retiring at the end of his term in 2027.

South Restaurant was filled on Election Day with patrons and politicos.
Photo: Kimm Cole

a race that many felt focused as much on national and international issues as it did local ones — the phrase “Foundational Philadelphians” became a hit on social media — Rabb was embraced by both the city’s progressives in the form of City Council Minority Leader Kendra Brooks and Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke of the Working Families Party, Philadelphia’s Democratic Socialists of America branch and national progressives in the form of New York’s U.S. Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez and Maryland’s U.S. Rep. Jamin Raskin, among others. For more on that, see this week’s Hanging In The Hall column.

In his concession speech, Street, who was endorsed by the Democratic City Committee as well as much of Philadelphia’s political class, acknowledged that the results show that it might be time for the DCC to acknowledge that the progressive movement that has had more than a few significant victories in Philadelphia over the last 10 years, might just be here to stay.

“The movement that gave birth to the victory today called themselves ‘Reclaim,’ and they wanted to reclaim the party,” Street said, referring to Reclaim Philadelphia. “Perhaps we need to reclaim our communities and get a little bit more engaged.”

PROGRESSIVE POWER—Christopher Johnson, the director of state and federal government relations for the Philadelphia School District won Chris Rabb’s seat for the 200th Legislative District in Mount Airy. Newcomer Sierra McNeil, a social worker and Strawberry Mansion resident, supported by the Working Families Party, beat incumbent Keith Harris (D-Philadelphia), winning the 195th District in North Philadelphia.

That desire for engagement was also reflected in the approval of two ballot questions that made significant changes to the city charter.

Question one creates the Philly Saves program and the independent Philadelphia Retirement Savings Board that would administer it. Under Philly Saves, Philadelphians who don’t have access to a retirement savings plan through their employers would be able to create one through the city. While there are 17 states that have implemented such a program, Philadelphia becomes the first city to do so.

Question two, which also passed on Tuesday, adds the Office of the Youth Ombudsman to the City Charter, making it a permanent office. The office, which was created by former Mayor Jim Kenney in 2022, oversees the safety and quality of services for young people in residential placements.

Voters will have the chance to have another say on many of these races when the polls open on Nov. 3, 2026. The last day to register to vote in the November elections is Oct. 19.