Philadelphia to hold special elections this fall to fill City Council vacancies
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Council President Darrell Clarke issued Writs for Special Elections to be held this fall to fill vacancies in the seventh and ninth district seats in City Council on Friday. The special elections will be held on Election Day, Nov. 8.
The vacancy in the seventh district was created by Maria D. Quiñones Sánchez's resignation. She's running for mayor of Philadelphia. The district covers parts of lower Northeast Philadelphia and portions of North Philadelphia, including Frankford, Kensington, Juniata Park Hunting Park and Feltonville, Fairhill and other neighborhoods.
Cherelle Parker created the vacancy in the ninth district after she resigned on Wednesday to run for mayor. The district covers portions of Northwest and Northeast Philadelphia, including East Mt. Airy, West and East Oak Lane, Olney, Lawncrest, Lawndale, Burholme, Oxford Circle and other sections of the city.
Nearly 340,000 people live in the two vacant city council districts.
Because of the city's Home Rule Charter, it fell upon the city council president, Clarke, to issue a writ to the local board of elections to hold a special election to fill the vacancy for the rest of unexpired term, which goes until December of 2023.
The political parties in Philadelphia will nominate candidates to run in the November elections and those nominees will appear on the Election Day ballot.
"It is vitally important that more than 339,000 residents of the Seventh and Ninth Districts have full, active representation in Council, with access to the specific kinds of constituent services and district-specific legislation that can only be provided by their district Councilmember," Clarke said in a release.
Two other vacancies were created by the resignations of Allan Domb and Derek Green.
Green is running for mayor, but it's still unclear if Domb will take a shot at the mayor's office.