Jim Kenney

James Francis Kenney (born August 7, 1958) is an American politician who served as the 99th mayor of Philadelphia from 2016 to 2024.

Jim Kenney was born on August 7, 1958, in the Whitman neighborhood of South Philadelphia.

His father was a firefighter and his mother was a homemaker.

His parents both worked second jobs to put Jim and his four siblings through private Catholic schools.

In high school, Kenney was a newspaper deliveryman and busboy.

Kenney graduated from Saint Joseph's Preparatory School in 1976 and in 1980 received a political science bachelor's degree from La Salle University.

He was the first in his family to graduate from college.

Kenney was elected to his first term in 1991 when he was 32 years old.

During his time on Philadelphia's City Council, Kenney served as Chairman of the Council Committee on Labor and Civil Service.

He was also Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Rules, Committee on the Environment, and Committee on Law and Government, and was a member of the Committee on Public Safety, Technology and Information Services, Public Property and Public Works, Fiscal Stability and Intergovernmental Cooperation, Public Health and Human Services, and the Legislative Oversight Committee.

In 2010, Kenney sided with the local firefighters' union when Mayor Nutter took action to remove the collective bargaining rights of paramedics.

In 2014, Kenney successfully introduced legislation that ended arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

The bill replaced incarceration with the requirement to pay a fine.

In advocating for the bill, Kenney had cited the disproportionate effect of arrests for small amounts of marijuana on African-Americans.

Philadelphia became the largest city in the country to decriminalize marijuana.

Kenney garnered criticism from local and national economic commentators when he proposed bonus pension payments, distributing funds when pension plans exceed target returns in any given year even though solvency depends on retaining above-average earnings to prepare for years with below-average earnings.

While on the Philadelphia City Council, Kenney worked as a consultant at Vitetta Architects and Engineers, served on the Independence Blue Cross board, and was an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kenney was first elected on November 3, 2015, defeating his Republican rival Melissa Murray Bailey after winning the crowded Democratic primary contest by a landslide on May 19.

Before he became mayor, Kenney was a member of the Philadelphia City Council for 23 years, serving as a Councilman at Large from January 1992 until January 29, 2015, when he resigned to run for mayor.

He gave up these positions when he was elected mayor in 2015.

Incumbent Democratic Mayor Michael Nutter could not run for re-election to a third consecutive term due to the home-rule charter's two-term limit.

Registered Democrats hold a formidable 7-to-1 ratio over registered Republicans in Philadelphia, giving Democratic candidates a distinct advantage in citywide elections.

The mayoral primary elections were held on May 19, 2015.

Kenney won the primary in a landslide with 55.83% of the vote, defeating a crowded field of five other Democratic candidates, including Anthony H. Williams and former District Attorney Lynn Abraham.

Republican Melissa Murray Bailey, a business executive, ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Kenney won with 85.1% of the vote.

Kenney was inaugurated as the 99th Mayor of Philadelphia on January 4, 2016.

Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election gave their take.

Senator Bernie Sanders said that the tax would hurt the poor.

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, said that she was "very supportive" of the idea.

The lobbying organization American Beverage Association took a stand against Kenney's proposal.

The trade organization, funded by soda companies and distributors, ran local television, radio, and newspaper advertisements against the idea, claiming that the tax would disproportionately hurt the poor.

Kenney was re-elected to a second term as mayor on November 5, 2019.

Kenney was reelected as mayor in 2019.

The Democratic primary was held on May 21, 2019, and he defeated former City Controller Alan Butkovitz and Pennsylvania State Senator Anthony Hardy Williams with 67% of the vote.

On November 5, 2019, Kenney won re-election by defeating Billy Ciancaglini, a Philadelphia defense attorney and fellow La Salle grad, in the general election with more than 80% of the vote.

Kenney proposed a citywide soda tax that would raise the price of soda at three cents per ounce, originally with the intent to raise money for universal pre-k.

At the time, it was the biggest soda tax proposal in the United States.

Kenney promoted using tax revenue to fund universal pre-K, jobs, and development projects, which he expected would raise $400 million over five years, all the while reducing sugar intake by decreasing the demand for sugary beverages Kenney's soda tax proposal was brought to the national spotlight and divided key members of the Democratic Party.

The idea of a soda tax quickly became a national issue.