While most people will be focused on Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, there are lots of pretty important down ticket races up for election this primary season. We are electing Statewide row offices including the open Attorney General seat, now that AG Kane has decided not to run for re-election. Our Conservative Republican United States Senator, Pat Toomey, is up for re-election, with a crowded field of Democratic contenders. Embattled Congressman Chaka Fattah is facing several challengers in his 2nd Congressional District Race. And finally, there are a bunch of competitive State Senate and State Representative Primary races across the city. To keep tabs on what is going on, bookmark this chart. We will do our best to add useful information as the campaign progresses.  

Today was the deadline to file objections to nomination petitions filed by candidates to get on the ballot for the April 26 Primary Election. In other words, as of 5:00PM, we now know which Democratic candidates for office in Philadelphia have been challenged by their opponents in an attempt to knock them off the ballot. The list is below. By clicking on a name, you can read the latest status of the challenge on the court docket sheet for that challenge.

After several weeks of television commercials, direct mail, and robo-calls, the big Democratic Primary Election in Philadelphia is finally happening tomorrow. There are tons of people running for almost a dozen different offices, including Mayor, City Council, City Commissioner, Register of Wills, Sheriff, and a bunch of different types of judges. The ballot is very long and it may seem daunting the first time you look at it. You can see a sample of what the ballot will look like here.

So, to help you navigate your way through this long ballot, I have organized my thoughts on this election and offer the following recommendations. Feel free to bring this with you into the polling booth to guide you in your voting, or forget about it and vote for whoever you want. Just make sure you vote tomorrow. It is important.

On Tuesday, May 19, Philadelphia voters will go to the polls to vote in a Municipal Primary Election. Most people will walk into the voting booth with a good idea of who they want to choose for Mayor, and possibly a couple of City Council seats. But they may be surprised to see that the bulk of the ballot will be filled with scores of unknown people running for judge. Keeping track of all the people vying for a judicial seat every odd year is a challenging task for even the most politically astute. This year will be especially complicated with 15 or more vacancies in the two trial courts in Philadelphia. There are rumors that more than 80 people may throw their hat in the ring. So, as I have done in the past, I provide below a table of judicial candidates and important information on each as we head for the primary election.