Post Election Analysis and What's next!
Larry Krasner has won re-election! And 8 of our 9 endorsed candidates for judge won! It’s clear that Philadelphians want safe, healthy communities where our families can thrive. We voted to prioritize housing not cages, schools not prisons, and healing not punishment. We rejected the corrupt politicians, judges and the Fraternal Order of Police who only offer more police and more prisons, instead of real solutions, to our communities. We know that rethinking community safety takes time, but what we’ve shown is that when working Philadelphians come together, we all win.
With almost 200,000 voter contact attempts, Reclaim Philadelphia and over 250 of our volunteers, we played a significant role in delivering justice for Philadelphia by rejecting the FOP and re-electing Larry Krasner to District Attorney. Our efforts were one part of a powerful citywide field program built in deep collaboration with 215 People’s Alliance and Free the Ballot.
Since 2017, Reclaim Philadelphia's Mass Liberation Taskforce has been fighting to transform the criminal legal system and how we approach safety in our communities. We’re continuing to shift the dynamics of how we elect judges in our city by endorsing candidates who prioritize the needs of everyday Philadelphians. We know that ultimately safer communities are only possible if the carceral system is abolished, but our current reality demands judges and prosecutors that will use their power to create pathways towards healing and rehabilitation. We’re excited that our collective efforts paid off, and we now will have 8 new judges who reject the racist, classist, corrupt, and unfair practices that remain all too common in our local courts.
District Attorney Election
Over the past four years, District Attorney Krasner has:
Streamlined and expanded the process for expungement, which allows more people with criminal records access to housing & jobs;
Expanded diversionary programs that keep people out of prison;
Held police accountable by not accepting testimony from officers who have committed misconduct, and by not hesitating to charge officers, including Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna after he brutally beat protestors;
Dramatically reduced sentences for people who were targeted by the system.
Furthermore, opponent Carlos Vega built his campaign on lies: claiming as his centerpiece accusation that there is a connection between prosecutorial disposition and gun violence. This is a connection rejected by every reputable criminologist, that boils down to little more than racism and stereotypes about what types of people are “criminal.” His revolting manipulation of trauma in the service of frightening voters and winning an election was rightly rejected with disgust by the vast majority of Philadelphians.
We need much more than a progressive District Attorney to achieve justice. Now that Larry Krasner will once again be our District Attorney (after he wins the general election), we will continue working with other abolitionist organizations to hold him accountable, pushing him and his administration to deliver for our communities.
Judge Elections
Four years ago, Philadelphians elected one of the two judges that Reclaim Philadelphia endorsed. This year, EIGHT OF OUR NINE endorsed candidates have won! Congratulations to our winning endorsed candidates for Court of Common Pleas: Wendi Barish, Chris Hall,Michele Hangley, Nick Kamau, Cateria McCabe, Dan Sulman, and Betsy Wahl. Congratulations to our endorsed candidate Gregory Yorgey-Girdy for winning a seat on the Municipal Court. Endorsed candidate Caroline Turner ran a great race but unfortunately fell just short and we’re proud she came in 9th place with over 65,000 votes (and still counting!)
In 2017, Reclaim Philadelphia’s members made our first endorsements of candidates for judge. Judges who don’t share our values block many of the criminal legal system reforms of the criminal legal system. Rick Krajewski, in his time as a Mass Liberation organizer for Reclaim, co-founded the Judge Accountability Table. The nonpartisan work of the Judge Accountability Table shed light on the role of judges within the criminal legal system and laid a foundation for movement organizations like Reclaim to interview and endorse judges that shared our values.
The vision was simple yet bold: restore the power of the courts back to the people. We’ve been working to shift the terrain for judges, ensure that our community has a say in who has power over our lives and organize to recruit and elect judges who prioritize justice, healing and restoration. Collectively, we will continue to work to identify, challenge, and replace judges who will simply throw our loved ones in prison and prioritize punishment with no consideration for our humanity or healing that our communities so desperately need.
Our communities deserve judges who understand the path to justice means divesting from police, prisons, and state sanctioned violence — the very institutions of mass incarceration, derived from forces designed to uphold chattel slavery and supress organized labor. Instead, we must understand public safety in terms of housing, jobs, healthcare, food, and community.
And now, we’re proud to say that our efforts have paid off. In Tuesday’s election, 8 of the 9 judges that we endorsed, along with our comrades at 215 People’s Alliance and Free the Ballot, have won. Moreover, our work and that of other reformers has changed the entire terrain of judicial elections. Organizations that only recently felt no hesitation pushing punitive, racist, and unqualified candidates, including the local Democratic establishment, have realized that to stay relevant they must put forward qualified candidates and adopt the messaging of the healing justice movement we’re building. Another indicator of progress: all three Common Pleas candidates endorsed by the FOP (John Padova, Rick Cataldi, and Patrick Moran) were soundly defeated.
What Comes Next
Since the founding of Reclaim in 2016, we’ve been voting, organizing and talking to our neighbors about what’s at stake for all of us. We’ve been organizing around mass liberation, housing, education, healthcare, and elections in partnership with organizations like 215 People’s Alliance and Free the Ballot. We’re doing important work to build community narrative power to lift up non-carceral solutions to gun violence, to challenge how newspapers write about violence, safety, and mass incarceration, and to center our communities’ needs in the story of what “public safety” means. We have proven (again and again and again) that our movement is here to stay.
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Our strength is in the collective power of the people and our victories represent the tens of thousands of people who are transforming Philadelphia. When we come together, when we fight together, when we resist the forces of fear and division, we win.
But our work is not finished. This month, as City Council votes on our budget, we’re demanding 10 years of investment in our communities — this includes $100 million per year towards permanently affordable housing and eviction diversion programs as well as $100 million per year towards community-based solutions for gun violence prevention, intervention, and reentry services. Sign on to our budget demands here and join us in demanding the investment our city needs.
We live in the richest country in the history of the world. If those resources were shared fairly, there would be no need for police and prisons. We are working towards an abolitionist future, where communities stay safe through an abundance of resources and vibrant community life. To get there, working class Philadelphians must unite to demand our fair share, to reclaim the wealth we ourselves generate. We will have to defeat not just Carlos Vega, but the corporate, real estate, and other ruling class interests that supported his campaign and depend on mass incarceration to maintain inequality. The resounding rejection of the politics of fear and manipulation on Tuesday is an early but hopeful sign that the people of Philadelphia, once united, will never be defeated. Philadelphia reminded the world that the people, united, will never be defeated!
Reclaim Philadelphia is able to be bold and independent in the campaigns we take on and the candidates we endorsed because we fund our movement through thousands of small dollar contributions from working people like you. Join us in transforming the world we live in and become a member by making a recurring monthly contribution now.
In solidarity,