WHYY: Working Families Party notches another historic win in Philadelphia
Working Families Party notches another historic win in Philadelphia
With both Kendra Brooks and Nicolas ORourke elected, City Council will not have a Republican at-large member for the first time in modern history.
by Meir Rinde November 8, 2023
The Working Families Party on Tuesday night pulled out another historic win in Philadelphia. WFP candidates Kendra Brooks and Nicolas ORourke pulled in enough votes to win the two City Council at-large seats effectively reserved for a non-majority party.
That leaves Philadelphia without at-large Republican councilmembers for the first time in modern history.
Brooks, who in 2019 was elected the first third-party councilmember in generations, had 6.95% of votes in the at-large race as of midnight with 95% of divisions reporting. ORourkes 5.83% positioned him to win his first term.
In the at-large Council election, the seven contenders with the highest citywide vote counts win. There were nine candidates total this year, and the five Democrats won easily, as expected after the May primary.
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Read more -
https://billypenn.com/2023/11/08/working-families-party-philadelphia-city-council-kendra-brooks-nicolas-orourke/
There are 17 total City Council seats - 10 "District" ones, where Democrats hold 9 and a Republican who is now elected to his 12th, 4-year term, holds 1. Then there are the 7 at-large seats and based on local media calls, Republicans have been fully kicked out of those seats, replaced by a new "minority party" - the progressive "Working Families Party"!