We Ready, We Coming: AMP Endorsements for 2023 Philly Elections

The 2023 Philadelphia election will shape our city and the policies that impact our neighborhoods for years to come. We are ready to move out powerfully to make a difference and win tangible policy changes for everyday people in our city. 

Following up from an early first round of endorsements in January that included the contests for Mayor and some City Council-At-Large seats, Amistad Movement Power is announcing a second round of endorsements today that will cover a number of district council seats as well as round out our endorsements for City Council-At-Large.Today we are proudly adding Jamie Gauthier, Seth Andreson-Oberman, Andrés Celin, Rue Landau and Erika Almirón to our list of endorsed candidates.

Our endorsed candidates are united in values that put communities and everyday people first. 

Mayor
Helen Gym

City Council-At-Large

Isaiah Thomas, Amanda McIllmurray, Erika Almirón, Rue Landau, Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O'Rourke (Kendra and Nic Appear in General Election Only)

District Council:
Jamie Gauthier (3rd District), Seth Andreson-Oberman (8th District) and Andrés Celin (7th District)

City Commissioner:
Jarrett Smith (Appears in General Election Only)

Furthermore we are recommending that our members support the following judges up for election as well as vote on the following ballot questions:

Judge in Court of Common Pleas
Samantha Williams, Caroline Turner, Kay Yu, John Padova, Natasha Taylor-Smith, Tamika Washington, Wade Albert, Jessica Brown, Will Braveman, Qawi Abdul-Rahman

PA Supreme Court

Daniel Mcaffery

Judge of Superior Court 

Timika Lane
Jill Beck

Judge of Commonwealth Court

Matt Wolf 

Judge of Municipal Court 

No Recommendation

Ballot Questions

No on 1: Should The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to expand the requirements for annual minimum appropriations to the Budget Stabilization Reserve, more commonly known as the ""rainy day fund""? 

No on 2: Should The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to create the Division of Workforce Solutions within the Department of Commerce and to define its duties?

Yes on 3: Should The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to make employees of the Citizens Police Oversight Commission exempt from civil service hiring requirements?

No on 4: Should The Philadelphia Home Rule Charter be amended to create the Office of the Chief Public Safety Director and to define its powers, duties and responsibilities?

Why are we backing the people listed on our slate for Mayor and City Council?

Kendra Brooks is one of our most clear, principled and effective movement leaders and she is fighting, among other things, to make sure the wealthy pay what they owe for city services so we can invest in the great communities of our beautiful city of Philadelphia. Isaiah Thomas has held police accountable and moved mountains to pass ‘Driving Equality’ legislation that limits frivolous police stops for minor traffic violations. Amanda McIllmurray is a life long Philadelphian and progressive movement leader with a fierce sense of working class solidarity who will will fight for safe, accessible housing and to cap rent increases. Jamie Gauthier has been an unquestioned champion for the people in West Philly who has taken on BIG fights against gentrification and for affordable housing. Seth Anderson-Oberman will fight to win new approaches to public safety for people in Uptown that prioritize mobile crisis teams, violence interrupters and community investment. Andrés Celin will fight for jobs programs for the youth in our community and work toward treatment and housing for those struggling with addiction in the 7th District.   Over the years Rue Landau has dedicated herself to fight for the communities of our city as a housing advocate and civil rights attorney and she will fight for housing as a human right on City Council. Erika Almirón will fight to fully fund our schools and our neighborhoods so they can be safer places where we can all thrive. On picket lines, community struggles and fights for criminal justice reform Nicolas O’Rourke has shown up and spoken out for everyday people and we know if we elect him to city council he will do the same there. Jarrett Smith has tirelessly defended democracy through his involvement in the labor movement and as city commissioner he will fight to keep our city elections free and fair from attacks by the Republican right.

This is why we are backing these candidates. They are people of substance that carry with them the vision that our city needs.

If the past few years of global pandemic, national uprising and gun violence crisis its become clear that we live in uncertain and volatile times. Now more than ever we need to elect leaders who are strongly rooted in their values and responsive to grassroots movements of everyday people. The path ahead is not linear and both movements and progressive elected officials will need to rise to the challenges ahead of us. Not only that, but we are facing urgent issues in our communities that need responses and interventions now so we can find real solutions. Of these contests none is more important than Mayor, because of the power and ability to set broad agendas and respond decisively in moments of crisis.

When we look towards the Mayor’s race we see that reducing poverty and addressing wealth inequality were at the heart of Helen Gym’s landmark accomplishments.  As leaders from the communities most harmed by Philadelphia’s gun violence crisis, we are uniting behind Helen Gym’s focused vision to make Philadelphia a safer place and reduce gun violence by addressing its root causes. Helen Gym recognizes that wealth and social inequality are the primary drivers of the gun violence crisis and she has a comprehensive plan to make significant investments in jobs programs, rec centers, libraries and violence interruption programs.

If we elect Helen Gym as Mayor, re-elect progressives to City Council and send them reinforcements we know we can make real progress to heal and unite our communities.

That’s why this is an all hands on deck moment. We are getting organized to have an impact and this Spring we will be organizing volunteer canvasses with our movement partners in Straight Ahead in Germantown and West Philly to talk to our neighbors and get them out to vote. Sign up on the form below to get involved. Let’s move out together and win!