Kendra Brooks

Kendra Brooks is an American politician and activist. She won a citywide at-large election in the Philadelphia City Council as a member of the Working Families Party (WFP) on November 5, 2019.[1][2] The Council has seven at-large seats that go to the highest overall vote-getters, two seats are reserved for a minority party. Brooks's election is the first time a representative of a minor party won a seat on the council since the creation of the modern version of City Council in 1919.[1][2][3]

Kendra Brooks
Member of the Philadelphia City Council
from the At-Large District
Assumed office
January 6, 2020
Preceded byAl Taubenberger
Personal details
Political partyWorking Families
Children4
Alma materTemple University (BS)
Eastern University (MBA)

Early life and education

Brooks was raised in Nicetown, Philadelphia.[4] She studied at Community College of Philadelphia and worked as a nursing assistant. She later received a Bachelors of Science in therapeutic recreation from Temple University, and an MBA in management from Eastern University.[4]

Career

Brooks worked with children with disabilities at Easter Seals for 17 years.[4] Due to budget cuts, she was terminated, but remained on the school advisory council of her children's school, and became a neighborhood and educational activist.[4] She also worked with the Parents United for Public Education and the Our City Our Schools coalitions, is on the Steering Committee of 215 People's Alliance, and founded Stand Up Nicetown, a group committed to ending gun violence.[4][5]

For this activism, she was placed on Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney's nominating committee for the new Board of Education.[4]

Brooks and Nicolas O'Rourke, a pastor, worked with the Pennsylvania chapter of the WFP to fundraise and organize a get out the vote campaign for the Council race.[1][3][5] Due to longstanding tradition, Brooks, O'Rourke, and the WFP activists faced resistance from not only the Republican Party, but also the Philadelphia Democratic establishment, as many expected the remaining two at-large seats to continue to go to Republicans.[1] Philadelphia's seven at-large council seats are determined by limited voting, where voters casting five equally-weighted ballots for five candidates, and the overall top-five finishers (recently presumed to always be Democrats) are joined by the top two vote-getters from a minority party (recently always the Republican party), regardless of actual finish placement as per the Home Rule Charter of 1951. Thus, for the WFP candidates, some Democratic-leaning voters would have to limit their ballots to only three Democrats to cast their votes for Brooks and O'Rourke, which rankled Democratic party leaders who saw this as an opportunity for the Republicans to gain more than the two seats allotted. Bob Brady, former United States Representative and Chair of the Democratic City Committee, called for committee members and ward leaders who campaigned for non-Democrats to be expelled from the party.[1][3][5]

Brooks was endorsed by Council At-Large member Helen Gym, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, Pennsylvania State Representatives Chris Rabb, Elizabeth Fiedler, Malcolm Kenyatta, Movita Johnson-Harrell, Brian Sims, Pennsylvania State Senator Art Haywood, and Massachusetts US Senator Elizabeth Warren.[2][5][3][1] Brooks was also endorsed by the Pennsylvania chapter of Make the Road, and the Philadelphia chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America, UNITE HERE, and Sunrise Movement.[3][6]

Brooks and her campaign raised more money for a third-party candidate in a Philadelphia City-wide election than any previous candidate.[7] She relied on small dollar donations as approximately two thirds of her donations were for $50 or less.[7]

In the November 5, 2019, election, Brooks came in 6th overall in the at-large race, with 55,599 votes, almost 6,000 more than 7th place finisher and top Republican vote-getter, incumbent David Oh, and over 11,000 votes ahead of 8th place Republican vote-getter, Al Taubenberger, ensuring her a place on the Council.[1][2][8][9]

Political positions

Brooks supports creating and preserving more affordable housing and expanding rent control, and is supportive of a Green New Deal for Philadelphia.[6][5]

Personal life

Brooks lives in Nicetown, Philadelphia with her four children.[4]

See also
  • List of Democratic Socialists of America who have held office in the United States

References
  1. McCrystal, Sean Collins Walsh, Laura. "Kendra Brooks captures a Philadelphia City Council seat in a historic win for the Working Families Party and Philly progressives". inquirer.com.
  2. "Working Families Party wins City Council seat in historic Philly election".
  3. Lacy, Akela (November 4, 2019). "Two Surging Candidates Could Make Philadelphia Far More Progressive. Democrats Are Going to War to Stop Them. [UPDATED]".
  4. "About". Kendra Brooks for Philly.
  5. "This Tuesday, the Political Revolution Comes to Philadelphia". jacobinmag.com.
  6. Baskin, Morgan (November 6, 2019). "Democratic Socialists Had a Pretty Good Election Night".
  7. Lai, Jonathan; Walsh, Sean Collins. "How Kendra Brooks raised more than any third-party Philly candidate ever". inquirer.com.
  8. "Working Families Party's Kendra Brooks wins Philadelphia City Council At-Large seat". 6abc Philadelphia. November 6, 2019.
  9. "Working Families Party's Kendra Brooks wins a Philadelphia City Council seat". KYW. November 6, 2019.
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