Philadelphians elected a seventeen-member city council in 1959, with ten members representing districts of the city, and the remaining seven being elected at-large.
For the at-large seats, each political party could nominate five candidates, and voters could only vote for five, with the result being that the majority party could only take five of the seven seats, leaving two for the minority party.
The Democrats' citywide dominance continued into the city council races, as took control of all ten of the district seats, up from nine in the previous election.
They also retained five of seven at-large seats.

In the at-large races, four incumbent Democratic candidates, Victor E. Moore, Paul D'Ortona, Marshall L. Shepard, and Leon Kolankiewicz, were re-elected.
A fifth Democrat, state legislator Mary Varallo, was elected to the seat vacated by Henry W. Sawyer when he declined to run for re-election.
On the Republican side, at-large councilman Louis Schwartz retired and was replaced by Virginia Knauer.
Incumbent Thomas M. Foglietta, a lawyer and son of former councilman Michael Foglietta, was re-elected.
Losing bids for the Republican at-large seats were attorneys Emil F. Goldhaber and William S. Rawls, and Baptist minister Clarence M. Smith.

At the district level, Democratic incumbents Emanuel Weinberg (district 1), Gaetano Giordano (district 2), Harry Norwitch (district 3), Samuel Rose (district 4), Michael J. Towey (district 6), James Hugh Joseph Tate (district 7), Henry P. Carr (district 9), and John M. McDevitt (district 10) were all reelected.
In the 5th district, Raymond Pace Alexander chose not to run for re-election and fellow Democrat Thomas McIntosh took his place.
In the 8th, the Republicans lost their only district-level seat when Wilbur H. Hamilton narrowly lost out to Democrat Alfred Leopold Luongo.
Philadelphians elected a seventeen-member city council in 1959, with ten members representing districts of the city, and the remaining seven being elected at-large. For the at-large seats, each political party could nominate five candidates, and voters could only vote for five, with the result being that the majority party could only take five of the seven seats, leaving two for the minority party. The Democrats' citywide dominance continued into the city council races, as took control of all ten of the district seats, up from nine in the previous election. They also retained five of seven at-large seats.
In the at-large races, four incumbent Democratic candidates, Victor E. Moore, Paul D'Ortona, Marshall L. Shepard, and Leon Kolankiewicz, were re-elected. A fifth Democrat, state legislator Mary Varallo, was elected to the seat vacated by Henry W. Sawyer when he declined to run for re-election. On the Republican side, at-large councilman Louis Schwartz retired and was replaced by Virginia Knauer. Incumbent Thomas M. Foglietta, a lawyer and son of former councilman Michael Foglietta, was re-elected. Losing bids for the Republican at-large seats were attorneys Emil F. Goldhaber and William S. Rawls, and Baptist minister Clarence M. Smith.
At the district level, Democratic incumbents Emanuel Weinberg (district 1), Gaetano Giordano (district 2), Harry Norwitch (district 3), Samuel Rose (district 4), Michael J. Towey (district 6), James Hugh Joseph Tate (district 7), Henry P. Carr (district 9), and John M. McDevitt (district 10) were all reelected. In the 5th district, Raymond Pace Alexander chose not to run for re-election and fellow Democrat Thomas McIntosh took his place. In the 8th, the Republicans lost their only district-level seat when Wilbur H. Hamilton narrowly lost out to Democrat Alfred Leopold Luongo.
1959 Philadelphia municipal election