Philadelphia Democratic Mayoral Primary Winner Hospitalized, Misses Victory Party

Cherelle Parker, who on Tuesday won the Democratic nomination for Philadelphia‘s upcoming mayoral election, was hospitalized over an emergency, causing her to miss her victory celebration. 

Parker, 50, won with 33% of the vote, while former city comptroller Rebecca Rhynhart earned 22%. Leftist candidate Helen Gym garnered 21%. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Parker had to go to the hospital over a “dental emergency.” 

She was hospitalized at the University of Pennsylvania over “a recent dental issue that required immediate medical attention,” according to campaign spokesperson Aren Platt. 

“Cherelle looks forward to celebrating with all of her friends and supporters and thanks all of Philadelphia for making history tonight!” Platt added. 

In February, Parker had reportedly been told that she needed to have a tooth removed but delayed the procedure until last Friday. “It needed to come out, so we made a decision to sort of just push it off because I was trying to get through the primary, and then it came up,” she told the Inquirer. 

Ryan Boyer, a backer of Parker and the head of the Building and Construction Trades Council, had previously said that Parker’s medical emergency was due to dehydration. 

Pollsters predict Parker will win the November election, as Philadelphia is heavily Democratic. A Republican mayor hasn’t been elected there since the 1940s, and the current mayor, Jim Kenney, won with 80% of the vote in his last election. 

“I’m so incredibly honored to have earned the Democratic nomination tonight. It’s been a long road, and to see the tireless work of my campaign team, supporters, and family pay off is humbling. I’m looking forward to November and bringing our city together as its 100th mayor,” Parker said on Twitter. 

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Gym was heavily favored by the far Left in the city and had the endorsements of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). 

Parker took a more moderate approach to law and order, promising to increase the number of police officers to “stop the sense of lawlessness that is plaguing our city.”

Elevated crime levels were a core issue in the primary. Philadelphia saw 516 homicides last year, just below the 2021 total of 562, a decades-long high in the City of Brotherly Love, according to data from the Philadelphia Police Department.