Reclaim Philadelphia Endorses Movement Leaders Helen Gym for Mayor and Amanda McIllmurray for City Council At-Large
This is Reclaim Philadelphia’s first round of endorsements as part of the 2023 Municipal Primary Election.
Philadelphia, PA—Today Reclaim Philadelphia officially announced its first round of endorsements ahead of the city’s 2023 municipal primary election. By a near-unanimous vote, members have chosen to endorse two progressive champions: Helen Gym for Mayor and Amanda McIllmurray for City Council At-Large.
“Today our membership has endorsed two leaders who resoundingly represent the values of our organization and our movement,” said Sergio Cea, Political Director of Reclaim Philadelphia. “Today we have taken the first step to electing people’s champions who we can trust to fight for all of us.
Both Helen Gym and Amanda McIllmurray won their respective endorsement votes with the overwhelming support of our membership.
Helen Gym is a former teacher, a long-time community organizer, and a two-term City Council member unapologetic in her devotion to our city and all who live here. We have an incredible opportunity to elect an amazing organizer, a trusted partner of movements for justice, a courageous and visionary trailblazer, and an experienced legislator as our next mayor. Helen Gym will be all of these and Philadelphia’s first Asian American and woman mayor.
“Together we’ve shown what’s possible when we bring our movement into City Hall,” said Gym. “This is our moment. We’ve got a city to win.”
It would be difficult to overstate just how important Amanda McIllmurray has been to the leaders and members of this organization and Philadelphians across the city. Without Amanda’s organizing, leadership, and vision, we would not have nearly so many people elected to office from our movement—from State Representative Elizabeth Fiedler to State Senator Nikil Saval. With her decision to run for City Council At-Large, we know that she will be taking that work to an even higher level—and all of us will reap the benefits.
“I’m ready to bring my winning record to council and make this a seat for the people,” said McIllmurray. “But I won’t do it without you.”
Our goal as a movement is to get our communities in Philadelphia the resources and investment they need to thrive. In a time of great wealth inequality and rising gun violence, we need leaders who will approach community safety conversations with innovative solutions addressing the root causes without setting back our civil rights.
In our endorsement ballot, we asked our members what issues mattered the most to them in the upcoming election. Fully funding public goods and services received the most votes, followed by Education Justice, Housing Justice and Community Safety. Our communities know what keeps us safe, it’s time we invest towards a progressive political future that carries that vision forward.
We see the Mayoral and City Council elections as two of the most important races for elevating and pushing forward our progressive vision in next year’s Municipal Elections. We will be doing another round of endorsements for City Council elections early next year. At Reclaim, we’re committed to building progressive political power through training and investment of leaders in our movement.
Beginning In February 2023, we will be organizing in support of our endorsed candidates starting with petition signature collection and continuing through citywide canvasses rooted in relational conversations about how city government impacts all of us.
Sign up now to volunteer and donate to support our Primary 2023 canvass campaign!