On January 7, 1952, Philadelphia's current city charter took effect. The city council created under that charter consists of seventeen members. Ten are elected from equal-sized districts, and seven are elected at-large in a citywide vote. For the seven at-large seats, each political party may only nominate five candidates and voters may only vote for five. The result of this limited voting system is that at least two of the seven members elected will be from a different party than the other five. Historically, this has resulted in the at-large seats being filled by five Democrats and two Republicans, but in recent elections the Working Families Party has also competed successfully for the two minority seats. The ten district seats are usually held by Democrats, as well, with the exception of District 10, which covers the Far Northeast section of the city. The Democratic party's dominance in the city has resulted in a body with little turnover from year to year, although there have been periods of widespread retirements from City Council, such as during the ABSCAM scandal of the 1980s, or the DROP controversy on the early 2010s.
1952–present
Session Election Council district At large (7 seats) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 1st(1952–1956) 1951 Thomas I. Guerin William M. Phillips Harry Norwitch Samuel Rose Raymond Pace Alexander Michael J. Towey James Tate Constance Dallas Charles M. Finley John F. Byrne Sr. Victor E. Moore Lewis M. Stevens Victor H. Blanc James A. Finnegan Paul D'Ortona Louis Schwartz John W. Lord Jr. 1954 Donald Rubel 2nd(1956–1960) 1955 Gaetano Giordano Wilbur H. Hamilton John M. McDevitt Henry W. Sawyer Marshall L. Shepard John F. Byrne Sr. Thomas M. Foglietta 1956 vacant Leon Kolan-kiewicz 1957 Emanuel Weinberg 1958 Henry P. Carr 3rd(1960–1964) 1959 Thomas McIntosh Alfred Leopold Luongo Mary Varallo Virginia Knauer 1960 George X. Schwartz William A. Dwyer Jr. 1962 vacant Stanley B. Smullen Robert B. Winkelman Walter S. Pytko 4th(1964–1968) 1963 Edward F. McNulty Joseph J. Hersch Isadore H. Bellis David Silver 5th(1968–1972) 1967 Benjamin Curcuruto William Cibotti Charles L. Durham Joseph L. Zazyczny David Cohen Isadore H. Bellis Edgar C. Campbell Edward R. Cantor William F. Boyle John B. Kelly Jr. Thacher Longstreth 1969 William J. Cottrell Harry Jannotti 6th(1972–1976) 1971 Natale F. Carabello Ethel D. Allen Joseph E. Coleman Melvin J. Greenberg Francis D. O'Donnell Beatrice Chernock 7th(1976–1980) 1975 James Tayoun Anna C. Verna Lucien E. Blackwell Cecil B. Moore Louis Johanson Earl Vann Francis X. Rafferty Al Pearlman vacant Ethel D. Allen 1976 Charles E. Murray 8th(1980–1984) 1979 John F. Street Joan L. Krajewski Brian J. O'Neill Augusta Clark David Cohen John C. Anderson Joan Specter May 1981 Ann J. Land Nov 1981 John F. White Jr. 9th(1984–1988) 1983 Patricia Hughes Edward A. Schwartz Thacher Longstreth Apr. 1984 Leland Beloff Nov 1984 Angel L. Ortiz 10th(1988–1992) 1987 James Tayoun Jack Kelly Marian B. Tasco George R. Burrell 11th(1992–1996) 1991 Joe Vignola Jannie Blackwell Michael Nutter Daniel P. McElhatton Herbert H. DeBeary Happy Fernandez James F. Kenney 1994 Alvin Stewart 12th(1996–2000) 1995 Frank DiCicco Richard T. Mariano Donna Reed Miller Frank Rizzo Jr. 13th(2000–2004) 1999 Darrell L. Clarke Blondell Reynolds Brown W. Wilson Goode Jr. 14th(2004–2008) 2003 Juan F. Ramos Jack Kelly 2006 Carol Campbell Daniel J. Savage William K. Greenlee 15th(2008–2012) 2007 Curtis J. Jones Jr. Maria Quiñones-Sánchez Bill Green16th(2012–2016) 2011 Mark Squilla Kenyatta Johnson Bobby Henon Cindy Bass Dennis M. O'Brien David Oh 2014 Ed Neilson 17th(2016–2020) 2015 Cherelle Parker Allan Domb Derek S. Green Helen Gym Al Tauben-berger18th(2020–2024) 2019 Jamie Gauthier Kathy Gilmore Richardson Isaiah Thomas Kendra Brooks May 2022 Mike Driscoll Nov 2022 Quetcy Lozada Anthony Phillips Jim Harrity Sharon Vaughn19th(2024–2028) 2023 Jeffery Young Jr. Nina Ahmad Rue Landau Nicolas O'Rourke Session Election 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th At large (7 seats) Council district
See also List of members of Philadelphia City Council from 1920 to 1952
Notes
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