Cherelle Parker

Cherelle Lesley Parker (born September 9, 1972) is an American politician and former educator serving as the 100th mayor of Philadelphia since 2024. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first woman to hold the office. Parker served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives representing the 200th district in Northwest Philadelphia from 2005 to 2015. She was elected to represent the ninth district on the Philadelphia City Council in 2015 and re-elected in 2019, serving as majority leader from 2020 to 2022. In September 2022, Parker resigned from City Council and announced her candidacy in the 2023 Philadelphia mayoral election. She won the Democratic primary in May 2023, going on to defeat Republican David Oh in the general election in November.

Photo: Jared Piper/PHLCouncil, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons