While you were gone: A recap of the mayoral-campaign weekend

Wondering what’s been going on with the mayoral (and other) campaign(s) since you walked away from your computer on Friday? We got you covered.

Let’s check out a few stories that have run here, and via other media outlets, in the past few days.

What we’re linking

— Milton Street campaign for Philly mayor survives first legal challenge (NewsWorks): Philadelphia mayoral candidate T. Milton Street Sr. has survived a court challenge over his voter registration, but he’s not out of the woods yet. A judge has ruled that Street did not have to be registered as a Democrat when he submitted nominating petitions to run in the May primary. Street remains on the ballot for now. The judge has yet to decide on a second challenge about whether or not Street actually lives in Philadelphia.

— Actor Smits to have role in Diaz campaign? (The Next Mayor): Word on the street is that Nelson Diaz’s campaign has been courting actor Jimmy Smits, best known for playing a hard-bitten detective on “NYPD Blue.” A source familiar with Diaz’s campaign said the idea would be to energize the Latino vote by bringing in Hispanic celebrities like Smits, who is half-Puerto Rican.

— Is Jim Kenney the face of new Philadelphia? (Citified): Jim Kenney — former Mummer, ex-Fumo protégé and current ally of Johnny Doc — is now the darling of Philadelphia’s progressive movement. To win his mayoral bid, he’ll have to unite rowhome Philly and the beer-garden crowd. No wonder he sometimes seems a little tense.

— ICYMI: Manny Morales: ‘I didn’t make those Facebook postings’; stays in Council race (NinetyNine): The embattled Seventh District Council candidate denies making the racist, homophobic and otherwise insensitive Facebook posts that appeared on his page. And, the coverage was substantial: Here are stories from the Daily News, Inquirer, KYW and Al Dia.

— Ties between Williams’ campaigns and charter school proponents run deep (PhillyVoice): [P]ublic campaign finance reports released in January showed that Williams had received more donations from political action committees associated with groups pushing charter school expansion. … In the face of attacks over his connections to these groups, Williams has argued his distance. At a recent press conference, as reported last week by NewsWorks, Williams called it “curious” that he would be labeled “the charter school guy.”

What they’re tweeting

— Lynne Abraham’s college basketball-tournament bracket is busted.

— Nelson Diaz likes to salsa dance.

— Deep college-hoops thoughts with Jim Kenney.

— Doug Oliver’s picture appeared on a cake.

— Tony Williams was out shoveling.

— And, Milton Street wanted people to hop over to Facebook, via a Tweet, last week.