Special elections will be held in November to fill the seats of two Philadelphia City Council members who resigned this week to pursue a run for mayor.
The elections to fill the 7th District seat of Maria Quiñones Sanchez and the 9th District seat of Cherelle Parker will take place Nov. 8, Council President Darrell Clarke announced Friday. Whoever wins will hold the seats through December 2023.
“It is vitally important that more than 339,000 residents of the Seventh and Ninth Districts have full, active representation in Council, with access to the specific kinds of constituent services and district-specific legislation that can only be provided by their district Councilmember,” Clarke said in a written statement.
Quiñones Sanchez became the first Latina to serve a district on City Council when she was elected in 2007. Her former district includes Frankford, Kensington, Juniata Park, Hunting Park, Feltonville, Fairhill and other neighborhoods.
Get Philly local news, weather forecasts, sports and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia newsletters.
Parker was elected to City Council in 2020 and previously served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Her former district includes portions of Northwest and Northeast Philadelphia, including East Mt. Airy, West and East Oak Lane, Olney, Lawncrest, Lawndale, Burholme, Oxford Circle and other neighborhoods.
Philly Mayor's Race 2023 Stories
Philadelphia's Home Rule Charter mandates city officials to quit their positions before pursuing another office. Current staffers for the 7th and 9th districts will provide constituent services until the election of new council members.
In addition to Quiñones Sanchez and Parker, at-large City Council members Derek Green and Allan Domb also resigned this week. Green confirmed he is running for mayor, while Domb said he is exploring a run.
All four council members are Democrats.
All 17 City Council seats are up for election next year. Clarke cited next year's planned elections as the reason to hold off on having special elections for vacant at-large Council seats.
