Candidate Spotlight:
- Like many of us, Helen Gym wanted to bring changes to her community so she turned to grassroots organizing. Then, Helen became the first Korean-American woman to serve as a city councilmember in Philadelphia.
- Helen fights for working people.
- On the City Council, Helen established a permanent City Department of Labor to enforce worker protection laws, passed the most expansive fair workweek law in the country to improve conditions for hourly workers, and wrote and passed the Black Workers Matter Economic Justice package to give hospitality workers the first right of return to jobs they held prior to the pandemic.
- Helen has advocated for a citywide wealth tax to ensure that the ultrarich pay what their fair share of taxes.
- Helen has introduced legislation that strengthened abortion rights and medical privacy in Philadelphia.
- Helen is a fierce, pro-immigrant champion.
- As a member of the Philadelphia City Council, she passed resolutions to protect schools from ICE disruptions and to condemn immigrant detention centers.
- Helen has led a campaign to raise funds for PA’s DACA renewals and used the city budget to establish a legal defense fund for immigrants facing deportation.
- She also successfully ended Philadelphia’s information sharing agreement with ICE.
- As the daughter of immigrants, Helen has been vocal about her family’s story and the need to pass a pathway to citizenship for immigrants.
- As mayor, Helen will have more power to hold ICE and DHS accountable for their treatment of immigrants, work with the city council to protect immigrants from deportation, invest in the city’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, and advocate for laws that expand access to social services regardless of citizenship status.
- If elected, Helen will be the first Asian-American and first female mayor of Philly, bringing her lived experience and deep love for Philadelphia immigrant and working class communities into office.