Adrian Rivera-Reyes is sitting pretty at the top of the upcoming Democratic primary over Philadelphia’s at-large City Council seats.
Earlier this year, we introduced you to Adrian Rivera-Reyes. He’s a cancer researcher whose commitment to service led to pursuing political work.
And at the start of this year, he announced his bid for Philadelphia’s at-large City Council.
🚨 The past 3 weeks have been all about the hustle! Today we submitted 1.7K signatures to get on the ballot 🙌🏽
I am grateful to the team, friends, and volunteers who hit the streets with me. Thank you for your help in building this movement together! ✊🏽#Adrian4Philly #Philly pic.twitter.com/YQb3gQgGow
— Dr. Adrián Rivera-Reyes (@AdrianRiveraPhD) March 12, 2019
It seems success comes with a mixture of hard work and fortune. After collecting 1.7 thousand signatures in order to get on the ballot, Rivera-Reyes recently found himself at the top of the list. Traditionally, Philadelphia candidates, or their proxies, draw lottery balls out of a Horn & Hardart coffee can to figure out ballot placements. According to the Philadelphia Tribune, Rivera-Reyes picked lucky number one.
The May 21st primary will be important due to several positions being up for grabs. From the city mayor’s seat to that of the sheriff, 10 district City Council seats, seven at-large City Council districts seats, and many more.
Even further, one of the races for those positions is incredibly crowded. Currently, there are Thirty-four Democratic and seven Republican candidates for those seven at-large City Council seats. In order to move on to the general election, candidates will have to be one of the five top-voted candidates in their party.
Right now, Adrian Rivera-Reyes, who wore his lucky “I got this” socks for the drawing, has the top ballot spot.
“I’m ecstatic. I’m getting all the texts and I’m just trying to process this,” Rivera-Reyes shared with the Inquirer after the drawing. “It’s going to be a big bonus for me.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvPv1agA8Zz/
This is great news for Rivera-Reyes and his campaign team, because research shows ballot positions affect votes. Voters are more likely to vote for names higher on the list. They then pick for people from their political party. This is even more true when the specific political race is crowded.
Of course, that’s not the end all and be all of the election process. Budgeting for marketing and getting candidates’ names out there is an important factor too.
But for Adrian Rivera-Reyes, whose most important goal is to serve the people, the campaign trail is difficult hurdle. Rivera-Reyes does not accept corporate sponsorships. While that has certainly made his campaign harder, it has also showed his integrity and sincerity in mission.
Our grassroots campaign rejects money from Corporate PACs, real estate developers, and lobbyists because we want to be accountable to you – the people!
— Dr. Adrián Rivera-Reyes (@AdrianRiveraPhD) March 20, 2019
If you would like to donate to the Rivera-Reyes campaign, you can do so by clicking here.
