In the run-up to the election, polls showed the top four Democratic primary candidates running neck and neck, with former councilmember and activist Helen Gym, backed by the city's rising progressive machine, holding a slight edge.
It's a local political lesson: progressive orthodoxy, with all its unbending convictions and vague solutions, can still have a low conversion rate among those city voters most concerned with crime and neighborhood vitality.
Parker's victory shows that the city's long-time Democratic machine-though diminished thanks to progressive gains, especially in South Philadelphia-is alive and well.
Parker's Democratic establishment backing included the powerful local Building Trades, but also the SEIU, a union that has proved crucial to other city electoral outcomes, particularly around Pittsburgh.
Last year, the then-GOP controlled state House voted to impeach Krasner, and before the primary, Democratic city councilmembers expressed their frustration with the DA at a hearing.
Like so many cities and towns, Philadelphia is a place to love "In spite of, not because"-as William Faulkner put it about his own hometown.
In 2026, Philadelphia will be a World Cup host city-a testament to encouraging days ahead. It remains a great American city.
https://www.city-journal.org/article/philadelphias-democratic-machine-still-runs
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