Who Else

As noted in my Nuts for Nutter post, I'm with Nutter for Mayor. Some of my other picks:

I live in West Mount Airy -- the anyone but Donna Reed Miller -- 8th District, Four-way fight has Eighth District in play. On this one, I'm with Irv Ackelsberg. Based upon the plethora of signs around my neighborhood, it wouldn't surprise me if he were to win. As the Inky said:

For 30 years, Ackelsberg was a senior attorney at Community Legal Services, which has its offices within the Eighth District. The organization provides legal help to low-income Philadelphians and community groups, and in 2005 Ackelsberg was named the nation's top consumer advocate for his work there by the National Consumer Law Center.

"We're very optimistic that our message is taking hold, and that people are ready for the kind of experience and integrity and leadership that I bring to the table," Ackelsberg said. "I'm reaching out to communities that feel neglected, and they're realizing that I'm a person who's been with them for 30 years, and that I'll continue to be with them in this new capacity."

Ackelsberg is part of a loose group of reform-minded Council candidates who have made joint appearances during the campaign. His son, Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, is the founder of Young Philly Politics, perhaps the city's most active online political community.

Mark Steir is my pick for the At-large council seat. As the Inky said, At-large Council challengers are intent on change:

Philadelphia voters in the mood for change will have a bounty of accomplished at-large City Council challengers to choose from in Tuesday's primary.

Though the pack is arguably led by mayoral sons Sharif Street and Bill Green, 12 other Democrats are looking to knock off the five incumbents. Included is a loose and unofficial slate of candidates who disagree on some issues but share the same core message: The city's political system is broken, and it needs new leadership.

That group - most prominently including Derek Green, Matt Ruben, Marc Stier and Andy Toy - is generating significant buzz in the growing ranks of the city's self-described progressive reformers.

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Stier, who left his job as a Temple University professor to run, has been building toward this election for years. He cofounded Neighborhood Networks - an organization designed, in part, to counter the political power of the Democratic establishment - and is a prominent public-transit advocate and a principal foe of the casinos.

'If one or two or three of us get elected, we can use that as a platform to help build a progressive movement in the city,' said Stier, who has a doctorate in political science from Harvard University."

See also, Metro: The Week that Was... Marc Stier, City Council candidate at-large.

For Judge, there are 2 candidates I'm behind. As noted in the Daily News endorsement, THE BENCH PRESS: HOW TO NAVIGATE JUDGE RACES, one is Ellen Green Ceisler: "Her work as the Police Department's integrity and accountability officer set a high and necessary standard for the department and for government as a whole."

I attended an Evans meet & greet at her house a few months ago and was impressed by her, along with Darnell Jones, who is running for a seat on the Supreme Court. Despite his impressive credentials and experience, see Above Average Jane, he has the misfortune of running for a statewide office and being from Philly. The rest of the state hates Philly (and I should know, having lived a few of those other areas), so that makes the race even more difficult. At least he's been endorsed by both the Philly Inky and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, see President Judge C. Darnell Jones.

Tags: Election, Philadelphia, Philly, Politics