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Rebecca Rhynhart Discusses Mayoral
Run, Next Steps After Defeat
Jarrad Saffren | Staff Writer
also the impact of negative campaign-
ing that my daughter saw.

fter working
in two
Philadelphia mayoral admin-
istrations, serving as city
controller for more than four years
and becoming an unexpected favor-
ite in the 2023 Democratic Primary
for the fall mayoral election, Rebecca
Rhynhart is available.

Available to spend extra time with
her family, consider her next move
and open her mind to paths that may
have little to do with running the city of
Philadelphia. The 48-year-old finished second to
Cherelle Parker in the May 16 primary,
losing by a little more than 24,000
votes and almost 10%. It was a disap-
pointing finish after a race that saw the
Jewish candidate earn endorsements
from three former mayors, Ed Rendell,
John Street and Michael Nutter, and
the city’s newspaper of record, The
Philadelphia Inquirer.

But it was also a race that put
Rhynhart on the map. At the candi-
date’s election night event in Northern
Liberties, Nutter said, “Rebecca
Rhynhart will continue to do great
things in Philadelphia.”
Ten days after the election, Rhynhart
discussed her future with the Jewish
Exponent. At the beginning of her
race in November, she said her Jewish
values of empathy and fairness guided
her in her effort to solve Philadelphia’s
problems, like crime. Those same
values seem to be guiding her now.

Can you offer any details on
what your next move might be?
Courtesy of Rebecca Rhynhart for Mayor
A So, what’s next for you?
I want to have a big impact on our city
and region. I’m not going to be jumping
in to run for office anytime in the near
future. That’s not where my head is.

Where I am, is thinking about, how do I
have the biggest impact?
When you think back on
the campaign, how do you
I’m taking some time to think through
that over the summer. I’m thinking
about a few different types of ways
to approach it. The only thing I know
for sure is I’m not jumping right into
another campaign.

I’m having conversations with
leaders in the region, nonprofit as
well as private sector, to see where
I’d best fit.

Might you run again at some
point? Rebecca Rhynhart
feel about it? Was there
anything you might have done
differently? I’m proud of the race. I’m proud of
what my team did. We had a grass-
roots field organizing part of my cam-
paign about spreading the message
of what I bring to the city. I met so
many people through the race that
shared my vision.

But democracy works the way
democracy works. I came in second.

It’s a hard loss. But at the same time,
I want to focus on the positive, which
is what we built and the momentum
across the city among different groups
of people.

It says to me that, what my message
was, resonated. It will continue to be
my message. I’m not going anywhere.

A loss makes you more resilient. This
loss was heartbreaking, but at the
same time, I feel thankful for all the
amazing support that I did get.

I love Philly. My heart is 100% in the
future of our city. So, it’s emotional. I
feel it. I’m going to figure out how best
to use my voice, my experience, my
knowledge and the principles I believe
in to help our city.

What have you been doing over
the past week and a half?
I’ve just taken some time with my
family. The race has an impact on the
family. A lot of missed dinners. There’s
It’s a possibility.

What I did see throughout my
campaign is the number of people
throughout our city that believe in what
I stood for and what I stand for, which
is positive change in our city. I want to
make sure I stay connected to every-
one that believes in that.

I find that sometimes the path
forward isn’t immediately clear, but we
have to stay true to our ideals.

We have a number of serious issues
right now. We’ve got to make our
city safer. We’ve got to get the gun
violence down. We’ve got to improve
the education system so all the kids
have a real opportunity for success.

And we need to encourage business
growth. Would you consider working in
a Parker administration?
I’ll always be willing to work with her
as the mayor to help move our city for-
ward. I don’t have any interest in going
back to work for city government. But
I’d be happy to help her in any way I
could be helpful.

I’ve worked for two mayors. That’s
why I ran for mayor, and I’ll figure out
another way to have an impact. ■
jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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