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Whos running for City Council in Philadelphia? Thats a question on the minds of many Philadelphia voters as a handful of current members vacate their seats to run or explore a run for mayor of Philadelphia.

Philadelphias resign-to-run rule requires members of City Council to resign their seats in order to run. So far, thats happened four times in 2022, with the resignation of Allan Domb,Derek Green,Cherelle ParkerandMaria Quiones-Snchez all of whom, with the exception of Domb, have launched formal campaigns for the citys top job.

City Council President Darrell Clarkecalled for a special election to fill these vacancies. which you will find on your ballot during 2022 PA General Election, which concludes with in-person voting on November 8. Voters in Philadelphia will decide on two district-specific candidates, in the 7th and 9th councilmanic districts, and two at-large candidates.

How did we get these candidates in the first place? Party ward leaders chose them. We did some diligent digging to offer you descriptions of each City Council candidate they chose, so you can step into the voting booth (or fill in your mail-in ballot at home) with some background knowledge on your side.

This seat, vacated by four-term councilmemberMaria Quiones-Snchez, represents parts of North and Northeast Philadelphia, including Kensington, Feltonville, Fishtown, Hunting Park, Frankford, Harrowgate, Norris Square and Juniata Park.

QUETCY LOZADA: Lozada served from 2008 to 2018 as Quiones-Snchezs chief of staff. Shes a Philadelphia native, Northwood resident, mother of two, andvice president of community engagement and organizingfor the Hunting Park Christian service groupEsperanza. Shes also served onPennsylvania Commission of Latino Affairsand worked for theCouncil of Spanish Speaking Organizations(Concilio) andPhiladelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau. Her community service work includes collecting and distributing hundreds of Thanksgiving baskets for families in need, anLIHEAPdrive to assist Spanish-speaking residents in completing applications for utility bill assistance, a citywide winter coat drive, and public clean-ups.

JAMES WHITEHEAD:Whitehead is a Frankford native and business and property owner. Whitehead grew up in poverty, battled depression and homelessness, and considers himself self-made. Gun violence and drugs afflicted many of his friends. He is the father of two.

RANDALL J. JUSTUS:Information to come.

This seat, vacated by two-term councilmemberCherelle Parker, consists of the Northeast and Northwest Philadelphia neighborhoods ofMount Airy, West Oak Lane, East Oak Lane, Olney, Lawncrest, Lawndale, Burholme and Oxford Circle.

ANTHONY PHILLIPS:Phillips grew up in working-class Philadelphia and currently serves as executive director of Youth Action, a program that connects Phillys middle and high school students to service opportunities to inspire socially responsible leadership. Phillips also directs precollege programs atTeenSHARP, an organization that opens doors for minority youth to achieve scholarships and gain admission to selective universities.

ROSLYN ROSS:This Mt. Airy resident and former Democrat spoke with theNortheast Timesduring an event with Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz. Her biggest concerns arecrime,educationand programs forsenior citizens. She says she plans to door-knock for votes: Im a boots-on-the-ground candidate.

YUSUF JACKSON:Information to come.

The seven at-large members of City Council dont represent any specific neighborhoods. Another way theyre different: At least two of them need to be from a minority party or independent. So far, only Democratic at-large councilmembers have resigned their seats:Derek GreenandAllan Domb.

JIMMY HARRITY (1):A native of Southwest Philadelphia, Harrity received his GED from theCommunity College of Philadelphia, operated the Famous Cookie stall at the Bellevue, was an investigator under City Controller Jonathan Saidel, worked union construction, and struggled with alcoholism. After getting sober, he executive directedSenator Sharif Streets office, then became political director of thePennsylvania Democratic Party. He is on the board of the addiction nonprofitOne Day at a Time, hopes to empower kids in hisKensingtonneighborhood, and believes in educational equitys power to create social mobility.

SHARON VAUGHN (2):Vaughn is the Democratic leader of the 42nd Ward and, until recently, was chief of staff to At-Large CouncilmemberDerek Green. Her previous roles in city government include working as an aide to former Councilmember Marian Tasco. Vaughn, a Feltonville resident, she has said would work to prevent gun violence by seeking out those whove committed crimes and offering them some type of resources to maybe prevent them from going out there and being violent criminals, she told theInquirer.

JIM HASHER(3):Hasher is a Torresdale resident, the owner of both a realty company and sports bar, and his partys former leader of the 65th Ward. The father of five graduated from Archbishop Ryan and serves as athletic director of theTorresdale Boys Cluband a basketball coach for Torresdale and St. Katherine of Siena. Hes stated his priorities as public safety, quality of life, the opioid epidemic, small businesses and lifelong residents. Describing himself as a moderate, Hasher recently tells theInquirer, I want to kind of rip the Republican label off of this thing.

DREW MURRAY(4):Murrayis the 15th Wards Republican and a former Democrat. He works as the regional sales manager at a Conshohocken storage system firm and volunteers as the president of Friends of Coxe Park. Hes been the president of hisneighborhood association (Logan Square), where he lives with his family. Murray is on the board of Center City District and the finance council of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. He ran for Council unsuccessfully in the 2019 Republican primary.

POETICA BEY (5):Bey is a spoken word artist, filmmaker and producer and host of a radio show about art and activism on WPEB, 88.1FM. She studied at Moore College of Art & Design and the University of the Arts.

MARCK JURCHAK (6):Jurchak chairs Philadelphias Libertarian party and has worked as a computer programmer and hardware verification engineer. He is strongly anti-vaccine and anti-mask, and fairly active onFacebook.

Read more:
Who's running for City Council during the 2022 special elections - The Philadelphia Citizen