History has been made in Philadelphia, as Cherelle Parker defeated Republican David Oh and will become the city’s 100th mayor and the first woman elected to the office on Nov. 7.
In her acceptance speech, Parker said she will be a “get-it-done” mayor who “won’t ever forget her deep roots” once she is sworn in on Jan. 2.
Parker has deep roots in the city, being born and raised in Northwest Philadelphia. Her mother died when she was 11 years old, and she was raised by her grandparents. Parker’s grandmother was present during her acceptance speech.
“My grandmother collected welfare and subsidized food to take care of me,” Parker said.
As a teenager, Parker was introduced to politics in Philadelphia after winning a citywide oratorical contest that awarded a $1,000 prize and a trip to Senegal and Morocco. That’s where she was introduced Marian Tasco, a city council member at the time, who hired Parker as an intern.
In 2005, Parker became the youngest African American woman to win a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. With a decade in office, Parker launched the Philadelphia Tax Fairness Act, a measure to collect property taxes that generate millions of dollars for public schools.
In 2015, Tasco decided not to seek reelection to Philadelphia’s City council, and Parker ran for the seat. Parker was a member of the city council from 2016 to 2022, and in 2019 she established the “Philly First Home” program, which provided financial assistance to help first-time home buyers.
Parker resigned from the city council to launch her mayoral campaign and was endorsed by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. She is now the fourth African American to be elected mayor of Philadelphia.
