Nicolas V. O'Rourke is an American politician and pastor who is an at-large member on 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 ...

. In

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, he was elected to a minority party seat alongside incumbent Kendra Brooks in his second run for council as a member of the Working Families Party. This caused Republicans to not have any at-large seats on the City Council for the first time since 1952, when the current system was established.

Early life and education

O'Rourke was born in 1989 in Trenton, New Jersey and lived in Ohio, Florida, and Indiana before moving to Philadelphia. He attended

Central State University Central State University (CSU) is a public, historically black land-grant university in Wilberforce, Ohio. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Established by the state legislature in 1887 as a two-year program for te ...

and Lancaster Bible College, before becoming the pastor of the Living Water United Church of Christ in Oxford Circle in 2014.

Political career

In the

2019 Philadelphia City Council election The 2019 Philadelphia City Council elections were held on November 6, 2019. It took place on the same day as the 2019 Philadelphia mayoral election The 2019 Philadelphia mayoral election was held on November 5, 2019, to elect the mayor of ...

, O'Rouke ran for a minority at-large seat but placed 9th on the general ballot. After his defeat, he became the Pennsylvania Director of the Working Families Party. O'Rouke won an election for a minority at-large seat in the

2023 Philadelphia City Council election The 2023 Philadelphia City Council elections will be held November 7, 2023 for elections of all seats in the Philadelphia City Council. The Democratic Party currently has a super-majority on the council. It will take place on the same day as the 2 ...

alongside Kendra Brooks, ousting Republicans from the minority seats. He took office on January 1, 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ORourke, Nicolas 1989 births Living people 21st-century American politicians Politicians from Philadelphia Politicians from Trenton, New Jersey Central State University alumni American Protestant ministers and clergy Working Families Party politicians Philadelphia City Council members