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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

See also

• List of members of Philadelphia City Council from 1920 to 1952

Notes

1. At-large special election called when John W. Lord Jr. resigned to become a federal judge.
2. Rubel was an independent Republican elected as a Democrat.
3. Special election to replace John F. Byrne Sr., who resigned to join the Pennsylvania Turnpike commission.
4. Guerin died in October 1956, but the special election to replace him was not held until November 1957.
5. Special election called for District 1 when Thomas I. Guerin died in office.
6. Special election called for District 9 when Charles M. Finley died in office.
7. Special election called for vacancies when Samuel Rose and Michael J. Towey died.
8. Special election called for vacancies caused when Alfred Leopold Luongo was appointed a federal judge and John M. McDevitt and Victor E. Moore resigned.
9. Tate took a leave of absence from council while acting as mayor.
10. Special election called for vacancies caused when Benjamin Curcuruto and Joseph J. Hersch died.
11. Special election called when Francis D. O'Donnell died.
12. Special election called when George X. Schwartz resigned during the Abscam scandal.
13. Special election called when Louis Johanson resigned during the Abscam scandal.
14. Special election called when James Tayoun resigned to run for Congress.
15. Special election called when Al Pearlman died.
16. Special election called when Herbert H. DeBeary died.
17. Special election called when Michael Nutter resigned to run for mayor, Richard T. Mariano resigned after a scandal, and David Cohen died.
18. Special election called when Bill Green resigned to join the School Reform Commission.
19. Special election called after Bobby Henon resigned following a federal conviction.
20. Special election after Allan Domb, Derek S. Green, Cherelle Parker, and Maria Quiñones-Sánchez resigned to run for mayor.

Sources

• "[Current] Council Members". Philadelphia City Council. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
• "A simple list of all the city council members". Philadelphia City Council. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
• Sane, Maneesha. "Members of the Philadelphia City Council" (PDF). MANEESHA SANE. Retrieved June 2, 2015.

• Government of Philadelphia
• Philadelphia City Council members
• Philadelphia-related lists