Democrats in the 22nd Ward Open Caucus, a rump group of progressive committee people who have split from the ward's existing party leadership, voted last week to endorse Helen Gym for mayor. The Mt. Airy-based grassroots organization had earlier endorsed Seth Anderson-Oberman in the 8th District City Council race over incumbent Cindy Bass, who is also the ward leader in the 22nd.

Despite not being recognized by the city's Democratic Party establishment, the Open Caucus seems to be gaining traction as a genuine political force. Formed in 2019, after a failed attempt to increase transparency in the 22nd Ward, the group demonstrated its influence in last year's statehouse race between Chris Rabb and Isabella Fitzgerald, who were forced to compete against each other due to redistricting. The Open Caucus endorsed Rabb, who won by a wide margin, while the official ward leadership backed Fitzgerald.

“All the establishment people lined up behind Isabella Fitzgerald,” said one of the caucus’ members, Alex Reusing, “but all of the community organizations supported Rabb and the result was a blowout in support of Chris.”

“What you find in these more grassroots groups and movement organizations is work,” said open caucus member Nate Holt, who also serves as the finance director for Anderson-Oberman’s campaign. “You see them do work to turn out the vote: door knocking, phone calls, mass communications, membership enlistment. This is just a level of activity that gets results.”

The Democratic City Committee’s (DCC) endorsement of U.S. Senate candidate Conor Lamb in the Democratic primary, Reusing said, is another example of the DCC’s inability to get its endorsed candidates elected. Lamb finished last in Philadelphia, well behind competitor Malcolm Kenyatta, a Philadelphia resident, and placed second statewide to John Fetterman, who won the primary and eventually the general.

Progressive choices

Reusing said there were “multiple good candidates” to choose from in the field of mayoral candidates. But in the end, he was “pretty much Helen Gym all the way.”

“To me, she’s the clear choice for anybody who is unequivocal on public schools,” he said. “She has a track record of getting things done.”

Her track record, Reusing told the Local in a phone call, includes addressing water quality issues in schools, and introducing and passing right-to-counsel legislation that provides free legal representation for low-income tenants facing eviction.

Another member of the open caucus group, Michael Kleiner, told the Local that he picked Gym for her activism, particularly around education. But he’s also impressed with her track record, particularly legislation she introduced that mandated fair workweeks for hourly wage workers. Ultimately, Kleiner chose Gym over former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, whom he was also considering.

“Both of them are credible candidates, which is good,” he said. “It wasn’t easy to choose, but I chose Helen based on her progressive record.”

In many cases, caucus members told the Local it was hard to choose among a number of good candidates. Maurice Sampson, for instance, is still deciding between Gym, Rhynhart and former councilmember Derek Green. He was also considering Maria Quinones-Sanchez, who has since dropped out. 

“I probably won’t decide until I’m in the voting booth,” he said. “This is an election where we have options of good people. Usually it’s the other way around, and we talk about the lesser of two evils.”

Trash vs. crime

Sampson, who has served as the Eastern Pennsylvania director for Clean Water Action since 2016, is particularly concerned about how candidates would handle trash, recycling and the environment – and said he’d liked Quinones-Sanchez because she’s a “trash nerd” and she answers questions directly.

“What I love about Maria is she will answer the question very well and when you ask the question in three different venues it’s almost like she picks up where she left off,” he said.

Green, Sampson explained, is an old friend who regularly participates in Clean Water Action’s events.

“He’s the first candidate to publicly declare that he was going to commit to working with our platform to end open dumping forever by 2028 and to clean up our trash collection,” said Sampson. “We want the next mayor to get us back on a reliable trash collection program.”

Sampson knows violence is an issue across the city, but a candidate who can effectively manage the city’s waste, he argued, would display the type of organizational skills and leadership necessary to tackle bigger problems like the city’s rising rate of violent crime. 

“Any mayor who tells us they’re going to reduce violence but they can’t pick up our trash – that’s a fool’s errand,” he said. 

Delise Williams, another member of the group, said she’d be voting for Green. She thinks his legal background – Green previously worked as an Assistant District Attorney and Deputy City Solicitor – is what the city needs to solve its violent crime crisis. Crime and education are her two top issues. 

“Our city’s in a bad situation,” she said. “People are carrying guns and we need someone who’s going to know how to keep the city safe.”

The caucus also endorsed Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Amanda McIllmurray, Rue Landau, Erika Almirón and 22nd Ward committee person Abu Edwards for council at-large.

Members of the caucus successfully won a lawsuit last year that accused the ward leader, Cindy Bass – who is also the current 8th district councilmember – of shutting them out of ward proceedings. 

Bass is slated to debate her challenger in the 8th district council race, Seth Anderson-Oberman, at the Germantown Jewish Center in Mt. Airy on Wednesday, April 26. The event starts at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.