Democratic nominee for Philadelphia mayor — and likely first female to hold the office — Cherelle Parker spoke for the first time since winning the primary election. NBC10’s Lauren Mayk reports.
Less than a week after winning the election to be named the Democratic nominee for Philadelphia mayor -- and likely, be named the city's first female to hold the office following the November general election -- Cherelle Parker met Governor Josh Shapiro and offered her first comments to the public.
In her comments, Parker thanked her fellow candidates and discussed some plans for the future, if elected.
She also took a moment to detail the dental issues that kept her from celebrating her primary election with with supporters last week.
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'It was pain that goes like this -- just throbbing intently," she said, when asked about the issue. "My jaw was throbbing and it required that I go to the hospital."
Parker checked into a University of Pennsylvania hospital and spent election night on a hospital bed instead of behind a podium or partying with supporters.
Philadelphia Mayoral Election 2023
"I had some company, maybe not the company I wanted," she joked.
She explained that she found out earlier this year she needed a tooth pulled and had been ignoring it but the issue never went away and Parker had a root canal procedure on the Friday before election night.
"It became clear that I needed to get surgery and I did that Friday evening," Parker said.
However, Parker said that, with the demands of running a mayoral campaign, she didn't believe she rested enough before returning to the campaign trail and was dealing with intense pain on Tuesday.
"We were very focused on crisscrossing the city," she said. "By the time the polls closed on election night, everything literally caught up with me and I had to stop. Not because Cherelle Parker said stop. But, because my body said, 'you will stop, right now'."
She was released from the hospital the next morning.
Also, Parker discussed what she spoke to the governor about, noting that they talked about restoring the "police department to its full compliment" and making sure there are 300 foot patrol and bike officers on the streets of Philadelphia.
They also discussed resources for the city's school system and the logistics that might be involved in her support of year-round schooling.
Parker, a Democrat with a long political history in Pennsylvania, won Philadelphia’s mayoral primary on Tuesday.
The win will likely set her up as the city’s 100th mayor and the first woman to serve in the role.
Parker, 50, has had a long career as an elected official. Before serving on City Council -- which she was elected to in 2015 -- Parker served for 10 years as a state representative for northwest Philadelphia.
She emerged from the primary elections after besting a crowded field of five front-runner Democratic candidates -- including former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, former fellow city councilmembers Helen Gym and Allan Domb along with grocer Jeff Brown -- to replace Democrat Jim Kenney, who has nearly reached the end of his two-term limit.
Parker will face off against Republican David Oh in the Nov. 7 general election.
