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 corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, concurrently with various other

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

. Heavily favored Democratic party candidate

Jim Kenney James Francis Kenney (born August 7, 1958) is an American politician who served as the 99th mayor of Philadelphia from 2016 to 2024. Kenney was first elected on November 3, 2015, defeating his Republican rival Melissa Murray Bailey after winning ...

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 from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, he is also a former member of the Philadelphia City Council from the 4th di ...

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 primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

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 is the legislative body of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is composed of 17 councilmembers: ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large from throughou ...

, 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 and former District Attorney Lynn Abraham. 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 curre ...

* 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, former State Senator and candidate for Mayor in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

* Anthony H. Williams, 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, stagger ...

and candidate for

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

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

"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 in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

City Council in 2005 * Ken Trujillo, former City Solicitor

Declined

Alan Butkovitz Alan L. Butkovitz (born April 15, 1952) is an American politician from the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the City Controller of Philadelph ...

, Philadelphia City Controller * 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 en ...

, candidate for Governor in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and candidate for Mayor in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

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

School Reform Commission The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is the school district that includes all school district-operated public schools in Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the largest school district in Pennsylvania and the eighth-largest school dis ...

* Renée Cardwell Hughes, chief executive officer of the Southeastern Pennsylvania

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

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 of the American Association, as well as the ...

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

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

* Tom Knox, 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, former Philadelphia City Controller * R. Seth Williams,

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

Philadelphia Mayor Democratic Primary 2015 by Ward

Results by ward

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

* Melissa Murray Bailey, businesswoman

Declined

* Ronald D. Castille, former Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Judiciary of Pennsylvania, Unified Judicial System. It began in 1684 as the Provincial Court, and casual references to it as ...

, 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 *

, 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

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

and

* 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

Results by Ward

References

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

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...