Finally, a Republican has thrown a hat in the ring to become Philadelphia’s next mayor.

David Oh, 62, announced his run on Monday and has resigned his at-large seat on the City Council.

He is vying to become the first Republican mayor of the City of Brotherly Love since 1952 when Barney Samuel wrapped up a 12-year run.

He is the first candidate in the GOP field, while Democrats have a crowded 10-person race in the quest to succeed Jim Kenney as mayor.

“I do think it is the right time to do something different,” Oh said. “And that is to take all the things I could not do on council and do that for the city as mayor.”

After graduating from Dickinson College and Rutgers Law School, Oh became a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, then worked for several years as an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia. He resigned to serve in the Army National Guard for four years, before returning to Philadelphia to open his own law firm.

Oh was elected to City Council At-Large in November 2011 and took office in January 2012. He was re-elected in November 2019 and began his third term in January 2020. David was the first Asian-American elected to political office in Philadelphia. He was the only military veteran serving on City Council.

He says crime – and what to do about it – is the number one issue that confronts the city and wants to fully staff the Police Department and rebuild it into one of the finest departments in the nation.

Oh added that an effective educational system has the potential to reduce crime, depression, drug addiction and a variety of other ills that plague Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Republican Party endorsed Oh for mayor on Monday.

“David has the wisdom to lead our city,” said Vince Fenerty, party chair and former executive director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority. “He’s always wanted to be councilman, he’s wanted to do every job that he ever did. He wants to be our mayor, he wants to solve crime, and he wants to appoint a police commissioner who came up through the ranks in Philadelphia to clean up this city.”

Oh, 62, became the first Asian American elected to City Council and began serving in 2012. He was re-elected to his current term in 2019.

He and his wife have four children and live in Southwest Philadelphia on the same block where he has lived since 1963.

Oh’s resignation from Council leaves the legislative body with only 15 of 17 seats filled thanks to Democratic mayoral candidate Helen Gym’s resignation in late 2022.

Council President Darrell L. Clarke has not yet said when he intends to fill those seats. The Republican and Democratic primaries for the mayoral election and all Council seats are May 16.