local
Jewish Democrats Allan Domb
and Jeff Brown Announce
Mayoral Campaigns
A s expected, there are now
three Jewish candidates in the
crowded fi eld of contenders for
Philadelphia’s 2023 mayoral election.

Real estate developer and former City
Councilman Allan Domb and grocery
store owner Jeff Brown announced
their campaigns on Nov. 15 and 16,
respectively. Th e two men join former
City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart,
who announced her campaign on
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6 NOVEMBER 24, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Allan Domb addresses the media before his fi rst campaign event at The Guild
of Mural Arts on Spring Garden Street on Nov. 15.

Oct. 25, as the three tribe members in
the race.

Domb, 67, resigned from his at-large
council seat in August aft er six-and-
a-half years. But he did not announce
right away, instead choosing to go on
a listening tour of Philadelphia neigh-
borhoods hit hard by crime over the
past couple of years.

“We need to protect our commu-
nities by rebuilding trust in our law
enforcement and investing in anti-vi-
olence programs that actually work,”
Domb said in his campaign announce-
ment video. “And we have to address
the root causes of crime.”
Brown, 58, did not have to follow
the city’s resign-to-run rule for public
offi ceholders seeking the mayoral seat,
as Domb and Rhynhart did. Th at’s
because he’s not — and never has been
— an elected offi cial. Th e grocer owns
12 ShopRite and Fresh Grocer loca-
tions in Philadelphia neighborhoods
like Roxborough, Parkside and Oregon
Avenue, as well as some in suburban
towns like Bensalem and Fairless Hills.

At a campaign kickoff event at the
First District Plaza on Market Street,
attended by almost 200 supporters,
Brown said he was running because
elected offi cials haven’t solved the prob-
lems facing his customers and employ-
ees. Th ose include high crime rates and
a school system that does not prepare
students for the job market, accord-
ing to Brown. All fi ve of the grocer’s
opponents in the May 2023 Democratic
Primary resigned from city govern-
ment positions to run for mayor.

“As a Philadelphian, I’ve watched City
Hall and, unfortunately, I’ve watched
them fail to really make any progress
for us,” Brown told the audience. “I see
legislation passed, I see people coming
and going, and my customers are living
in the same circumstances.”
Domb, the “Philly Condo King” who
Photos by Jarrad Saff ren
Jarrad Saff ren | Staff Writer



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Jeff Brown announces his campaign for mayor with a speech to almost 200
supporters at The First District Plaza on Market Street on Nov. 16.

became known in the 1980s and ’90s
for selling and then developing proper-
ties in Center City, considered running
for mayor in 2015 but decided to get
government experience fi rst. He ran for
an at-large seat, won and was reelected
in 2019.

On Nov. 15 outside of his fi rst cam-
paign stop at Th e Guild of Mural Arts
on Spring Garden Street, where he met
with returning citizens in a job skills
program, Domb told the media that
the city faced crises in many areas.

Th ose include public safety, poverty,
education, jobs, housing aff ordability
and, the biggest one, according to the
candidate, “a lack of leadership.”
“We need someone who can bring
the private sector and the public sector
together to solve these problems,” Domb
said. “It’s not about rhetoric,” he added.

“It’s about solving real problems.”
Brown, like Domb in 2015, is a busi-
nessman looking to get into govern-
ment. But unlike Domb, he’s going
straight for the big job and feels quali-
fi ed for it. Th e grocer entered the city’s
public debate a few years ago when he
spoke out against Mayor Jim Kenney’s
soda tax, which he claimed would
motivate consumers to leave the city
for groceries. Now though, as a candi-
date for mayor, he is not focusing on
the soda tax and reportedly supports
it because it helps fund the city’s pre-K
A Monthly Education Series for the Dementia Caregiver
program and recreational facilities.

Instead, Brown is playing up the
public-mindedness that he has oft en
shown in his business career. As Brown
reminded supporters, he has put gro-
cery stores in food deserts, hired more
than 500 former prisoners/returning
citizens and set up programs to help
entrepreneurs establish businesses. He
has even allowed them to sell products
in his stores.

“We’re in this together,” Brown said
to applause from the crowd. “Either
we all make it, or this thing isn’t going
to work.”
As an August Jewish Exponent story
reported, like Rhynhart, Domb and
Brown are open about and proud of
their Jewish identities. Brown part-
nered with the Jewish Federation of
Greater Philadelphia’s Mitzvah Food
Program to help feed people on
Passover in the spring. Domb oft en
cites a story from his youth as a reason
for wanting to give back. His mother
complained to the landlord on Yom
Kippur about having no hot water; the
landlord then evicted all three Jewish
families in the building.

But Jewish issues are not likely to be
featured in this race. Neither candidate
mentioned them in campaign kickoff
announcements. JE
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
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© 2022 ProMedica Health System, Inc., or its affiliates
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