Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker addresses Pennsylvania delegates at Democratic convention

CHICAGO — Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker turned the Tuesday morning breakfast for the Pennsylvania delegation to the Democratic National Convention into a pep rally for Vice President Kamala Harris and other party members in the November election.

“Did you know the mayor of Philadelphia wore pom-poms?” she asked the crowd of about 200. “I was a cheerleader for a little group called the Oak Lane Wildcats.”

Parker led a group in egg-picking at the Palmer House in downtown Chicago, and she also modified some of her Philadelphia-related campaign slogans to appeal to a statewide audience. She said Pennsylvania would become “the safest, cleanest, greenest — you know — community in the country.”

“Turnout is key for us,” Parker said. “Pennsylvania knows what it’s like to win a close election. We’ve been there before. We won’t lose this. We know what it’s like to be under enormous pressure.”

Parker won’t have a chance to speak at the DNC itself, but she will speak to several groups while in Chicago, including the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Emerge, a group that works to support Democratic women of color running for office.

» READ MORE: Mayor Parker says she’s ‘excited to be speaking’ at the Democratic convention, but doesn’t have time to deliver a speech yet

Philadelphia City Council Speaker Kenyatta Johnson joined Parker for the breakfast.

“Character is on the ballot,” he said. “Democracy is on the ballot.”

He referred to former President Donald Trump’s recent comments while campaigning in northeastern Pennsylvania that “if you win Pennsylvania, you win everything.”

“A few days ago, an orange guy came to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, but he said something very profound,” Johnson said. “Pennsylvania will produce the next president of the United States.”