{"id":295806,"date":"2026-09-28T22:16:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T22:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/295806\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T22:16:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T22:16:07","slug":"shania-bennett-launches-2027-philadelphia-mayoral-campaign-at-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/295806\/","title":{"rendered":"Shania Bennett launches 2027 Philadelphia mayoral campaign at 26"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThey say I\u2019m too young, because they can\u2019t say I\u2019m not capable,\u201d Shania Bennett said during a kickoff event for her campaign for mayor of Philadelphia.\n<\/p>\n

At 26, Bennett is not only one of the youngest mayoral candidates in city history, but she is also the first candidate to announce a bid to run against her former boss, incumbent Mayor Cherelle Parker<\/a>, in the Democratic primary.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time someone tells me I am too young, I will remind them that leadership is not measured by how many birthdays you had,\u201d she said. \u201cEvery time someone tells me that I\u2019m too young, I\u2019ll ask them, am I too young to care? Am I too young to understand?\u201d\n <\/p>\n

At 18, Bennett became one of the youngest committee members in the city\u2019s history in South Philadelphia\u2019s 48th Ward and was elected ward treasurer. Until she resigned in May, she served as Parker\u2019s director of Youth Engagement.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I\u2019m significantly younger than our current leadership, but the potholes are old, and the excuses are even older,\u201d Bennett said to a crowd of supporters.\n<\/p>\n

Many of Bennett\u2019s supporters said they were frustrated with Philadelphia\u2019s current leadership, arguing not enough is being done quickly enough to address issues such as education and infrastructure.
\n\"ShaniaYoung supporters gather around Shania Bennett at her campaign kickoff in West Philadelphia. (Rana Rastegari\/WHYY)\n<\/p>\n

Anjalee Pai, 25, said she hopes Bennett will improve city roads.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI want transparency on where funds are going, especially with the conditions of the roads,\u201d she said. \u201cIt really affects day-to-day life.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

For many of her supporters, school closures across the city are a top priority. Starting in the 2027-28 academic year, 17 schools are set to close<\/a> after the Philadelphia Board of Education approved a controversial facilities plan meant to consolidate resources.\n<\/p>\n

Delina Charles, a student at Thomas Jefferson University, said Philadelphia faces an \u201cinterconnected crisis that affects every single household\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we shut down schools, we shut down centers for science and discovery. We are telling our students that their growth is secondary. \u2026 We are shutting the doors on the very youth who are ready to lead us forward,\u201d Charles said.\n<\/p>\n

Bennett has not released a detailed policy platform. She said her campaign has faced questions about \u201cwhat kind of Democrat\u201d she is, wanting her to further identify as a Socialist or Progressive.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be very clear. I will be whatever works for Philadelphia,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause I do not think it\u2019s progressive or socialist for Philadelphians to have a government [that] prioritizes them.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,16038,71,70,61434],"class_list":["post-295806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-elections","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-youth-voting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}