David Oh believes he's the GOP's best candidate in decades
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Cherelle Parker faced the media for the first time Monday as the Democratic nominee in the race for Philadelphia mayor.
She held a news conference talking about the general election and explained why she had to go to the hospital on primary election night.
"If you Google root canal in our area, it is pretty popular right now," Parker said.
Parker was all smiles Monday and talked for the first time about the dental emergency that led to her being hospitalized on primary election night, which led to her missing her victory party. She said it was a throbbing pain in her jaw.
"I had to stop. Not because Cherelle Parker said stop, but because my body said you will stop," Parker said.
Parker says she had surgery the Friday before for a problem with a previous root canal. And that she returned to campaigning too quickly.
She'll need some follow-up appointments – but is now nearly 100% – and ready for her next challenge – taking on Republican David Oh in the race for mayor. She wasted no time getting into the challenges she's looking to tackle.
"Gun violence, neighborhood blight, struggling schools, and quite frankly a lack of economic opportunity," Parker said.
But to get there – she'll have to defeat Oh. If elected – Oh would also make history as the city's first Asian-American mayor. He'd also have to break Republicans' 70-year losing streak in the mayor's race.
But Oh believes he's the GOP's best candidate in decades.
"I'm the first credible candidate in 20 years and I'm taking this race very seriously, unlike some of the candidates we've had. They had never run before," Oh said.
Oh has cast Parker as an establishment figure – tied to outgoing Mayor Jim Kenney.
"We're going to have to have a fight in this town. And it's going to be those who are standing for the status quo, versus those who are not," Oh said.
But Parker wants voters to look at her record. She points to her old city council and state house districts strongly backing her in the mayoral primary.
"It's because the people who live there, they have grown accustomed to making the connection between government, the delivery of city services, and what it means to their lives," Parker said.