‘This is not a celebration’: Cherelle Parker casts her vote in Philadelphia

Cherelle Parker – surrounded by friends and family as she approached the Masjidullah at Washington and Limekiln Pike Tuesday morning – was greeted outside her polling place by a gaggle of reporters. 

The Democratic candidate for mayor, who is slated to become Philadelphia’s 100th mayor – and the city’s first female chief executive – got emotional as she reflected on her path to Election Day in 2023. 

“I’m only here today because I stand on the shoulders of men and women – and a village that looks like the United Nations that decided they were going to give me the best of everything that they could so that I could one day realize what my purpose would be in life. I learned my purpose was serving,” Parker told reporters. Among Parker’s entourage at the polls was her high school English teacher, Jeanette Jimenez, whom Parker says changed her life by encouraging her to read Black authors and use writing as an outlet. 

“I don’t arrive here by myself. I didn’t pull myself up by my bootstraps. There was a community and a village of people who lifted me (and) they continue to lift my son up,” Parker said. 

Parker, alongside her son Langston Mullins and her goddaughter, voted inside the Masjidullah around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. After casting her ballot, Parker told reporters, “This is not a celebration right now.” 

“We have to work until 8:01 p.m. today – when the polls close – to do what I’ve learned to do all my life – and that is to earn the support of voters across the City of Philadelphia,” she said. “The message won’t change based on the race, class, socioeconomic status, ZIP code, religion, sexual orientation or identity of the voter…We’re going to have one Philly, a united city.”

Democrats hold a 7-1 voter registration advantage over Republicans within the City of Philadelphia. Parker, who ran away with the Democratic nomination during May’s primary, emerged from a crowded and diverse field of candidates.