While you were gone: Moms, money and endorsements

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. (And one that’s coming up.)

1 story we’re covering today

— From noon to 2 p.m., the Democratic mayoral candidates are scheduled to appear at a Global Philadelphia Association forum focused “exclusively on the impact of globalization on the region.”

11 stories we’re linking

— Super PACs rule in Philly (Off Mic): Campaign finance filings Friday show three super PACs have raised twice as much as the six Democratic mayoral candidates in 2015.

— Carpenters fueling pro-Kenney super PAC (Off Mic): If you follow the Balkanized world of Philadelphia politics, you know that carpenters union, which has been shut out of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, has endorsed state Sen. Anthony Williams in the Philadelphia mayor’s race. But apparently not all carpenters agree.

— Filings indicate reforms working (The Next Mayor/Inquirer): For the third mayoral race in a row, Philadelphia’s attempt at campaign-finance reform seems to have done much of what it was intended to do: dampen big money’s power to buy the city’s next chief executive.

— This One Super PAC Raised More Than All the Mayoral Candidates Combined (Citified): American Cities, a super PAC backing Williams for mayor of Philadelphia, raised an eye-popping $6.8 million from Jan. 1st to May 4th, according to campaign finance reports due Friday. The vast majority of the group’s funding came from Arthur Dantchik, Joel Greenberg and Jeff Yass, a trio of multimillionaire stock traders from the suburbs who support charter schools and education vouchers.

— Candidates talk Mother’s Day, maternal love, and childhood lessons (Al Dia): After 70 mayoral forums and a handful of debates, the candidates are taking this Sunday to celebrate the mothers in their lives. Here, they reflect on how their mothers helped them get where they are in life, and even divulged when they got in trouble with the motherly law.

— Abraham backs Ramsey, slams Williams’ criticisms as ‘pandering for votes’ : Mayoral candidate Lynne Abraham shared a simple message near the Clothespin statue on Friday afternoon: She supports Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, wants to keep him in that role if elected and “repudiates” opponent Anthony Hardy Williams “pandering” for votes by criticizing him.

— Tribune endorses Anthony Williams for mayor (Philadelphia Tribune): Undoubtedly on many issues he has changed, but Kenney is still in many ways tied to the status quo. Nothing illustrates this more than his ties to his biggest financial backer, Dougherty who has a vested interest. By contrast, Williams’s well-reported financial backers do not have any known financial interest in charter or private schools.

— Our Endorsments. It’s Doug Oliver in Mayoral Democratic Primary (The Independent Voice): Doug Oliver, a city native, only 40 years old, has enough street experience to know what is needed, and we believe enough commitment to take the steps re- quired with an out front approach to the reality that the level of neglect has made us today the city with the largest percentage of deep poverty in the nation. Business as usual should be behind us.

— Abraham on her 1st TV ad, death penalty (900-WURD): Mayoral hopeful and former District Attorney Lynne Abraham discussed her first commercial, what she feels is the biggest issue facing Philadelphia, and her current position on the death penalty regarding Gov. Wolf’s moratorium in her second interview on 900AM-WURD.

— Kenney gives money to key wards’ ‘GOTV efforts’ (The Next Mayor/Daily News): “They are the two biggest turnout wards in the city, with a strong built-in field infrastructure, and it would have been less effective for us to try to build our own field effort than to coordinate our field team with theirs,” campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said Wednesday. “In 2011 [for his Council re-election bid], Jim spent similar amounts on his field efforts in that area.”

— Will the city’s arts scene get a mayor who cares? (Inquirer): The city’s arts leadership is feeling frustration with the candidates as precious time slips away before the May 19 primary.