While you were gone: Canvassing, mayoral-job interviews, ad wars and more

Wondering what’s been going on with the mayoral campaign 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.

10 stories we’re linking

— An election is like a job search, but the bosses (voters) need to reclaim their place (NewsWorks/Centre Square): An election campaign is a hiring process. In the boss’ chair sit the voters; on the other side of the table are the hopeful applicants, the candidates. … Here at WHYY and Newsworks, working with our partners at the Committee of Seventy, Young Involved Philadelphia, Pennjerdel Council and the Philly Business Journal, we’re pursuing a coverage and events plan designed to support your work as boss.

— Teachers union canvasses for Kenney (NewsWorks/Northwest Philadelphia): Volunteers from the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers gathered to canvass in North and Northwest Philly, knocking door to door asking folks to vote for former city councilman Jim Kenney.

— Faith-based leaders endorse Tony Williams for mayor (NewsWorks/NinetyNine): Flanked by more than a dozen religious leaders inside a packed Hilton City Line Avenue conference room, mayoral candidate Tony Williams spoke about his “one Philadelphia” vision while accepting their endorsement of his candidacy on Friday afternoon.

— Code for Philly stages hackathon to mine, refine election data for voters (NewsWorks): The City of Philadelphia released a number of election-related databases, just in time for a weekend hackathon put on by the group Code For Philly. Software writers and other participants at this weekend’s democracy-themed event inside the Municipal Innovation Lab will be able to tinker with information ranging from turnout to polling place staff to the number of registered voters by ward.

— Morning Feed: Brian Hickey and Ed Feldman talk politics, schools, sports, Quizzo, etc. (Gtown Radio): A Friday appearance on Gtown Radio’s Morning Feed program.

— Who’s on tap to be next top cop? (Daily News/The Next Mayor): Most of the city’s six Democratic mayoral candidates have expressed an interest — publicly, anyway — in having Charles Ramsey continue to run the Philadelphia Police Department. Perceived front-runners Lynne Abraham, Jim Kenney and Anthony Hardy Williams said the decision would be Ramsey’s to make.

— Analysis: Here comes the TV ad war in mayor’s race (Inquirer/The Next Mayor): Leading candidates such as State Sen. Anthony H. Williams, former District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham, and former City Councilman Jim Kenney, in pressing their cases, have unwittingly shown the precarious underpinnings of their campaigns. Those underpinnings will be sorely tested by a protracted TV ad war between Williams and Kenney that began in earnest Friday.

— LGBT vote is crucial for mayoral candidates (Daily News/The Next Mayor): The six Democratic candidates, who are in a heated battle to win the May primary, think the LGBT vote could make or break them.

— Here’s Why Jim Kenney, Not Lynne Abraham, Got the NOW Endorsement (Citified): The Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization for Women’s endorsement is a coup for Jim Kenney and a huge loss for former District Attorney Lynne Abraham. According to Philly NOW president Nina Ahmad, the Abraham campaign did not seek Philly NOW’s endorsement; she said Abraham failed to respond to a request to fill out a candidates questionnaire.

— The Republican in the mayor’s race: “I represent the future of the city” (Al Dia): Melissa Murray Bailey, 37, is an outsider by all accounts. She’s the youngest candidate in the mayoral pool, and a newcomer to both local politics and the city itself, having moved just three years ago with her husband and her four-year old daughter.