Philadelphia Ward 22 Democratic Organizing Meeting Controversy, Fraud Accusation & Scuffle Outside
Reformers claim eight wards turned over by new leadership citywide; City’s Democratic Party Contest Committee to hear Ward 22 challenge Sunday
Philadelphia, PA – On the evening of Monday, June 8, across the city, Democratic Party ward organization meetings convened to select ward leaders from among committee people, who were just elected in a May 19 primary. The “open wards” movement flipped several wards around the city, but in a controversial meeting, Ward 22 leadership refused to allow a person-by-person vote.
In the heated meeting, Cindy Bass, the previous term’s ward leader and city council member, quickly held a voice vote, declared herself once again the chair, and closed the meeting within a few minutes, a recording obtained by Unicorn Riot showed. People spilled out of the Germantown Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Cliveden Street as our reporter arrived at about 8:05 p.m., many frustrated that they had been denied any attempt to get their votes individually counted.
[ Philly Primary Election: Reformers aimed for leadership change in ward • ‘Wards that Work’ Nets 300+ committee people, Claims Helped Six Ward Wins • Rabb Seeks Change in City Political System • 5th Square Touts Successes in Local Ward Races ]
Minutes later, tension outside mounted as the committee people present had noticed the event’s official sign-in sheets had a printed total showing a specific vote count for Bass and were making photos of these documents. There was briefly a scuffle, and committee member Gabriel Kuriloff got pushed into the back side of a car as the sergeant-at-arms and one of Bass’ supporters retrieved the sheets and walked off. Another Bass opponent attempted to get the sheets from him unsuccessfully.
During the scuffle, UR did not see the sheets up close. We obtained photos showing the first page of the sign up sheet, which had pen signatures and phone numbers on it, also included a vote total at the top. Bass opponent Octavius Price said they’d brought 26 people to try to vote against her, which was a plurality of committee delegates.
Kuriloff, a local educator who said he has broken up fights in schools for years, was surprised and upset that he’d gotten physically shoved by the sergeant-at-arms, and stressed that he had not personally taken the sign-in sheets from any of the Bass supporters.
Our extended interview report is available on Vimeo and YouTube.
“We did not even have a chance to vote. Unfortunately it affirms everything, every negative belief [my son] has about the state of our democracy. […] It’s a powerful lesson in civics, but it’s a grim and sad lesson in civics. I’m going to go back to my school and tell my students the same, that the state of our democracy is not strong, and it’s painful. […] We’re supposed to be the party of resistance in the face of, you know, oppressive regime from the Democratic perspective.”
Gabriel Kuriloff
Dimka Braswell, a city farmer, was one successful write-in candidate who said her voice wasn’t heard and objected to the way the meeting was handled.
“I expect some kind of political shenanigans because this is Philly, this is the Philly political machine. But in a current situation that we’re having at a federal level where there’s lives at stake, local politics matter just as much. And in Philadelphia, we have situations of environmental racism, food insecurity, crime and elder abuse. We can’t have politicians playing emotional or reactionary politics right now and this kind of illegal move, because looking at the law of the state, this was illegal.”
Dimka Braswell
During the meeting, Rev. Greg Holston made motions and points of order to try to work towards a roll call vote.
“If this is something the Democratic Party tolerates, then it’s no wonder why so many people are not voting anymore. So many people across this city feel that this situation is rigged, is unfair and unjust, and this Democratic Party will not be able to stand if this continues to happen. But what I am also is very hopeful for the people who are here, who are organizing, who are going to get the vote out no matter what this 22nd ward does, and build real change here in the city of Philadelphia and beyond.”
Rev. Greg Holston
The Inquirer reported that city party committee chairman Bob Brady did not approve of how this voice vote transpired and it’s deemed likely that a new vote will be ordered on Sunday by the city Democratic Party’s contest committee, which consists of other ward leaders selected by Brady.
Three elected committee people were blocked from participating in the voice vote. Two of these blocks were attributed to allegedly supporting Working Families Party candidates in 2022, while another was attributed to being on a Bass “hot list” according to an attendee at the event.
Maurice Sampson, who was blocked outside, said to UR he was not surprised that this had happened.
“I wasn’t even allowed to go in the room. […] They showed me a memo and said my name was on it, said memo, three people on the list not to be admitted. […] This was predictable. I’ve been doing this since 2008, probably the longest” of any of the Mt. Airy Democrats. “I wasn’t allowed in the meeting because my name was on a list. But my neighbors refer to me as the elected committee person because they elected me. […] I knew it was going to happen. The question was how it was going to be done. This happened in the 46th ward last year. Exactly the same thing that happened today.”
Maurice Sampson
Alex Reusing was also blocked outside because “we inactively supported the Working Families Party maybe four years ago. But it wasn’t, you know, a rule at the time. They’ve changed the rules after the fact.”
Carla Cain, another committee person, was ejected from inside the meeting “and she has never done anything,” Reusing said.
“This is a standard tactic. When they know they are going to lose, they just have somebody say, aye, you know, aye, nay, the opinion of the chair that the ayes have it. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court jurisprudence on this treats the Democratic Party like a private club that can do whatever they want. They just do whatever they want. We spent millions of taxpayer dollars every year on these elections. There’s tons of stuff written into both the state and city ordinances that give the parties, both parties, Democratic and Republican, special roles. And yet they’re a private club. And we can’t nobody’s responsible for ensuring that there’s a democratic process. […] This is the kind of thing that they’re talking about when they talk about bad things happen in Philadelphia. And, you know, there’s fortunately there’s enough people here who are sick of it. And [city party chair] Bob Brady is not going to be able to do this forever.”
Alex Reusing
Cindy Bass did not respond to a request for comment.
Reformers Aimed for Leadership Change in 22nd Ward, say they Brought Enough Votes
Earlier on Monday, Unicorn Riot talked with Octavius Price, a resident of Ward 22, the Germantown area, who is challenging for the ward leader incumbent city council member Cindy Bass as well as former city councillor-at-large Derek S. Green. Price is a member of 5th Square, an urbanist PAC. Price told us 58 committee people were elected in total and they thought they had the votes to win.
He said they were calling to have another recorded vote next week. Minutes before a June 11 City Council meeting Bass was served with a complaint about the event, we heard.
“To be quite honest, I don’t remember hearing them ask for a role call vote,” Bass said Thursday, according to WHYY. “Maybe they did. I just don’t remember at this time.” U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA2) posted he was “absolutely disgusted” by how the meeting was managed.
On May 19, including 11 successful write in candidates (including Braswell), there were 23 “brand new faces” now in the ward. It is a bit of a “rag tag” crew that includes both older and younger residents, black and white, people that have lived a long time in the city and relatively newer residents according to Price. He said it had been a scramble to organize this push inside the ward since some write-ins were only certified by the city on Tuesday, June 2.
Price also mentioned the Mt. Airy Democrats, whose website says they are “Rejected by the Philadelphia Democratic Party, we are the real Democrats in Mt. Airy’s 22nd Ward. We do what they fail to do.” (Emphasis in original.) Price thought no one had a copy of the ward bylaws and the ward had only met about three times on Zoom since 2022.
As we reported previously, the city Democratic Party base was fractured by purges after Working Families Party candidates successfully pushed the Republicans out of at-large minority party seats in 2022; this has led to the forming of side groups like Riverwards Area Democrats. The purges seem to still be in effect, at least in Ward 22 on Monday.
Criticism of Bob Brady’s continued tenure has picked up; he’s been the chair of the city’s Democratic Party Committee since 1986. District Attorney Larry Krasner called for Brady to step down after the election and Chris Rabb has leveled a similar call, more on that below.
‘Wards that Work’ Nets 300+ Committee People, Claims Helped Six Ward Wins, Two Additional Independent Efforts
Between the 5th Square and Wards that Work (WTW) candidates it was a “pretty impressive feat” amid people that shared a goal for efficient, fair and transparent government; it was “not ideological” as Price saw it. WTW “planted the seed” and put the thought in people’s minds that they could challenge the city establishment, he said.
Challengers from the progressive wing of city politics ran a campaign, “Wards that Work,” attempting to gain influence amid a call for transparency at the neighborhood level and a new policy agenda. At least 300 WTW-backed committee people got elected. More than 2,500 committee person seats were filled in the May 19 election, with up to two selected by Democratic Party registered primary voters per division.
According to a press release, eight other wards had leadership turnovers. Committee people supported by WTW turned over Ward 5 (Chinatown, Gayborhood, Northern Liberties, Old City, Society Hill), Ward 25 (Port Richmond, Kensington), Ward 31 (East Kensington, Olde Richmond, Fishtown), Ward 27 (W/SW Philly, University City, Clark Park), Ward 46 (SW Philly, Squirrel Hill, Cedar Park) and Ward 60 (W Philly, Cobbs Creek).
Additionally they noted Ward 14 (Ludlow, Poplar, Yorktown) and Ward 38 (Allegheny West, Nicetown, East Falls) got new leadership via “other efforts.”
Inquirer columnist Daniel Pearson concluded (archive), “it is clear where the energy and enthusiasm of the party are headed. The insurgent wards, and the wards they’ve contested but haven’t yet prevailed in, are filled with committeepeople. The machine-dominated wards are filled with vacancies.”
Rabb Seeks Change in City Political System
Chris Rabb’s successful primary campaign in the 3rd Congressional District was another key factor in the ward election, according to Price. Rabb, who was backed by a number of progressive groups in the city, prevailed in all parts of Ward 22.
As an outgoing member of the state legislature Rabb has called for regular redistricting of the wards, which haven’t been redrawn in 50 years. Rabb and most of the City Council also support ranked choice voting (RCV) which could reduce the political block-splitting dynamic often seen in the citywide races. “The bylaws dictate how the machine operates, and those are what need to be changed,” Rabb told the Philadelphia Tribune.
“Bob Brady and Philly’s machine politics are stuck in the past,” Rabb announced in a press release. “Simply put, our local Democratic Party must embrace democratic practices that amplify shared values of substantive diversity, inclusion, and equity. Bylaw reform and ward modernization together can deliver the electoral and organizing wins we need in 2026 and beyond.”
Rabb told the Chestnut Hill Local, “I won five times as many wards as I was endorsed by. If ward endorsements mattered, I would have lost. If the endorsements of the political class of the city and entrenched power mattered, I would have lost, but I won by 15 points.”
5th Square Touts Successes in Local Ward Races
Price said that he was the only 5th Square person elected in the 22nd Ward, which is stronger in other parts of the city.
Elsewhere, 5th Square saw a lot of success with 278 of its recommended candidates getting in, particularly along Delaware River wards on the eastern part of the city. According to their website, 138 incumbents were defeated in contested races, as well as West Philly in wards 27, 46 and 60, Fairmount and in the northwestern area. 5th Square leadership didn’t return a request for comment.
The 5th Ward along the Delaware River, Northern Liberties and Society Hill down to South Street, was considered contentious as well. Most divisions had at least one winning 5th Square backed candidate according to their online map.
Correction 6/15: Ward 25 (Port Richmond, Kensington) was incorrectly listed as Ward 22 in the set of other wards that turned over, due to an editing error.
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