The 2015 Philadelphia mayoral election was held on November 3, 2015, to elect the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, concurrently with various other

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

and

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

. Heavily favored Democratic party candidate

Jim Kenney James Francis Kenney (born August 7, 1958) is an American politician who is the 99th Mayor of Philadelphia. Kenney was first elected on November 3, 2015, defeating his Republican rival Melissa Murray Bailey after winning the crowded Democratic ...

won. Incumbent Democratic party Mayor

Michael Nutter Michael Anthony Nutter (born June 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia. Elected on November 6, 2007, he was reelected to a second term on November 8, 2011. He is a previous member of the Philadelphia ...

could not run for re-election to a third consecutive term due to term limits in the city's home rule charter. Registered Democrats hold a formidable 7-to-1 ratio over registered Republicans in Philadelphia, giving Democratic candidates a distinct advantage in citywide elections. The mayoral

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

s were held on May 19, 2015. 27% of the city's registered voters voted in the primaries. Democrats nominated

, a member of the

Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council, the legislative body of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consists of ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large. The council president is elected by the members from among their number. Each ...

, as their party's nominee. Kenney won the primary in a landslide with 55.83% of the vote, defeating a crowded field of five other Democratic candidates, including

Anthony H. Williams Anthony Hardy Williams (born February 28, 1957) is an American politician, former businessman, and Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, representing the 8th District since 1998. Prior to entering public service, he worked at ...

and former District Attorney

Lynn Abraham Lynne Marsha Abraham (born January 31, 1941) is an American attorney who served as the district attorney of the City of Philadelphia from May 1991 to January 2010. She was the first woman to serve as Philadelphia's district attorney. Abraham won ...

. Republican Melissa Murray Bailey, a business executive, ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. Had she been elected, Bailey would have become Philadelphia's first female mayor, as well as the city's first Republican mayor in more than 60 years.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

* Lynne Abraham, former

District Attorney of Philadelphia The office of the District Attorney of Philadelphia is the largest prosecutor's office in the state of Pennsylvania and oversees a jurisdiction that includes more than 1.5 million citizens of both the city and county of Philadelphia. The current ...

* Nelson Diaz, former City Solicitor and former Common Pleas judge * James F. Kenney, former

man * Doug Oliver, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Philadelphia Gas Works and former press secretary for Mayor Nutter *

Milton Street Thomas Milton Street Sr. (April 25, 1941 – November 28, 2022) was an American businessman, a Pennsylvania state senator from Philadelphia, and the brother of former Philadelphia mayor John F. Street. Originally a street hot dog vendor, he ro ...

, former State Senator and candidate for Mayor in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, Minority Whip of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

and candidate for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

"Does Bill Green Want to Skip the Mayor’s Race and Run for Congress?"
Phillymag.com. Retrieved May 16, 2013.

Withdrew

* Jon Bell * Terry Gillen, former Philadelphia Director of Federal Affairs and former Executive Director of the

Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority (PRA) was created by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Urban Redevelopment Law of 1945. Until the Fall of 2011 it was known as the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia (RDA). Function The ...

"Terry Gillen leaving administration"
Philly.com. Retrieved June 4, 2014. * Keith Goodman, pastor and candidate for

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

City Council in 2005 *

Ken Trujillo Ken Trujillo is a former Democratic candidate for Mayor of Philadelphia. As one of five children in a family often facing poverty, Trujillo attended public schools and became the only one in his family to graduate from college. He then went on to ...

, former City Solicitor

Declined

Alan Butkovitz Alan L. Butkovitz (born April 15, 1952) is an American politician from Pennsylvania. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the City Controller of Philadelphia from 2006 to 2018. He was also a member of the Pennsylvania House of Represen ...

, Philadelphia City

Controller Controller may refer to: Occupations * Controller or financial controller, or in government accounting comptroller, a senior accounting position * Controller, someone who performs agent handling in espionage * Air traffic controller, a person ...

* Darrell L. Clarke,

President * Dwight E. Evans, State Representative, candidate for

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, candidate for Governor in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

and candidate for Mayor in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

* Bill Green, former Philadelphia City Councilman and chair of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission * Renée Cardwell Hughes, Chief Executive Officer of the Southeastern Pennsylvania

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

and former Common Pleas judge * Kevin R. Johnson, Philadelphia clergyman and pastor of Bright Hope Baptist Church *

Sam Katz Samuel Michael Katz (born August 20, 1951) is a Canadian businessman and former politician who was the 42nd mayor of Winnipeg, Manitoba from 2004 to 2014. He is the owner of the Winnipeg Goldeyes and a member of the Order of Manitoba. He wa ...

, businessman, public finance executive and Republican nominee for Mayor in

and

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Tom Knox Tom Knox is an American businessman and politician. Knox became a millionaire through businesses in software, banking and health insurance. A Democrat, Knox ran for Mayor of Philadelphia in 2007 and briefly for Governor of Pennsylvania in 201 ...

, businessman, candidate for Mayor in 2007 and candidate for Governor in

* Alba Martinez, former city Human Services Commissioner and former CEO of the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania * Richard Negrin, Philadelphia Managing Director * Frank L. Rizzo, Jr., former Republican Philadelphia City Councilman (running for the City Council) *

Jonathan Saidel Jonathan A. Saidel is a politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a former Philadelphia city controller. Political career Philadelphia City Controller After incumbent Philadelphia City Controller Joe Vignola announced his resignation in l ...

, former Philadelphia City

R. Seth Williams Rufus Seth Williams (born January 2, 1967) is a former district attorney of the city of Philadelphia. He began his term January 4, 2010. He formerly served as an assistant district attorney. Williams was the first African-American district attorn ...

Polling

* * Internal poll for the Alan Butkovitz campaign * * AFSCME poll for the James Kenney campaign. * * Public Policy Polling poll for the James Kenney campaign.

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

* Melissa Murray Bailey, businesswoman

Declined

Ronald D. Castille Ronald D. Castille (born March 16, 1944) served on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1994 to 2014 and was chief justice from 2008 to 2014. He stepped down from the court in 2014, after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. He was the ...

, former Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme ...

, former

and candidate for Mayor in 1991 * Sean Clark, nonprofit executive * Allan Domb, real estate developer and President of the Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors * Rhashea Harmon, attorney and nominee for the State Senate in 2010 (running as an Independent) * Kelvin Jeremiah, President & CEO of the

Philadelphia Housing Authority The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) is a municipal authority providing Public housing services in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the fourth-largest housing authority in the United States and is the largest landlord in Pennsylvania. PHA ho ...

, businessman, public finance executive and Republican nominee for Mayor in

and

* Elmer Money, candidate for City Council in 2011 * Doug Oliver, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Philadelphia Gas Works and former press secretary for Mayor Nutter (running as a Democrat) * Dana Spain, businesswoman and philanthropist

Results

Independent

Candidates

Declared

* Rhashea Harmon, attorney and Republican nominee for the State Senate in 2010

Declined

* Bill Green, former Philadelphia City Councilman and former chair of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission *

, businessman, public finance executive and Republican nominee for Mayor in

and

"Is Sam Katz Running for Mayor Again?"
Phillymag.com. Retrieved April 16, 2014. * Dana Spain, businesswoman and philanthropist"Dana Spain Would Run for Philadelphia Mayor as Independent"
Phillymag.com. Retrieved May 31, 2013.

General election

Candidates

* Melissa Murray Bailey – Republican Party * James Foster – Independent * Osborne Hart – Socialist Workers Party *

– Democratic Party * Boris Kindij – Independent

Results

References

{{2015 United States elections , state=autocollapse 2015 in Philadelphia

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...