When a candidate says something offensive

Welcome back to “The 100th Mayor” newsletter.

It continues to amaze us just how wide open the election is with six weeks to go! There will be 11 names on the ballot in the Democratic primary, and at least seven of them are still running viable campaigns.

This week, we’ll look at the implications of an offensive comment by candidate Jeff Brown, dive into some data showing which voting blocs have the most power in Philly elections, and round up what the candidates are saying about the 76ers’ proposal to build an arena in Center City.

📮 Have a question about the mayor’s race? Let us know, and you may see an answer in an upcoming newsletter. Email us here.

Philly will be better off if everyone has the facts they need to make an informed decision about this election. If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

— Anna Orso and Sean Collins Walsh

If you see this 🔑 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.

This week, grocer-turned-mayoral-hopeful Jeff Brown apologized for using insensitive language after being caught on camera saying that Philadelphians would “lynch” City Hall insiders (like many of his opponents in the mayor’s race) if they knew what really went on in Philly politics.

Brown is white. Several of his rival candidates are Black. It didn’t look good, and Brown seemed to realize that because he quickly issued an apology saying that invoking lynchings “is hurtful to so many and has no place in public discourse.”

But will the incident play a big role in the campaign?

The short answer is that it will depend on whether the comment continues to resonate. Usually moments like this have staying power if they fit into a broader narrative or if someone makes an effort to keep it in the news.

Some of Brown’s opponents appear keen to make sure that happens. Former City Councilmember Derek Green, who is Black, said the comments were “hurtful, dangerous, clueless, and they are a continuation of a pattern of problematic behavior.”

And Brown is the subjective of the only negative TV ads that have aired in the mayor’s race — paid for by deep-pocketed candidate Allan Domb, who is white — and they aim to undermine Brown’s popularity with Black Philadelphians. 🔑

Last week’s incident fit that theme. We’ll see if it continues to be a problem for Brown’s campaign.

Nearly all the candidates have been asked whether they support the 76ers’ proposal to build a new arena in Center City. And nearly all of them have not provided a simple answer.

The team says it will be an economic boon that will help revitalize East Market Street. But community organizations in Chinatown, which would border the arena, have come out against it.

Here’s what some of the candidates have said:

Jeff Brown: “If we can address the realistic challenges of this project, then this project should move forward. … You can’t ignore Chinatown’s issues. They have to be addressed. Not the emotional ones, because we all get emotional. I’m talking about the real, real issues, like parking, congestion, those kinds of things.”

Allan Domb: “Economic activity is needed in the city and this could be an economic activity that would be really good for the city. But of course, you have the issues of Chinatown that have to get resolved.”

Helen Gym: “We are taking up a lot of time on a private project that … has to rely on almost a decade of work and years of financing that has not been secured.”

Derek Green: “I have not made the ultimate decision on this issue.”

Cherelle Parker: “Residents in any neighborhood have a right to have a say in what land use takes place in their community. With that being said, when we’re talking about the poorest big city in the nation, before we have an express reflexive opposition, how about we actually know the details about what is being proposed?”

Maria Quiñones Sánchez: “I’ve told my friends in Chinatown, you … are a community that should be respected, you’re an economic engine to who we are as a city and its diversity and world heritage status.”

Rebecca Rhynhart: “Any big project needs to be seriously considered … but at the same time, the neighbors need to be comfortable, and they’re not.”

Click here to read the full story.

Usually we use this space to highlight one of Philadelphia’s first 99 mayors. But this week we’re breaking the format to bring you a rundown of which former mayors the current mayoral candidates admire most.

Credit goes to the students of Central High School who hosted a forum last week and asked a series of rapid-fire questions like, “What’s your favorite cheesesteak?” “Describe the city in one word,” and “Who was the city’s best mayor?”

Here are the answers from those who attended, plus a few who weren’t there but got back to us:

Maria Quiñones Sanchez: John Street

Amen Brown: John Street

Rebecca Rhynhart: “I can’t make that choice. Two of them endorsed me.”

James DeLeon: Ed Rendell

David Oh: “The mayor who went down South and retrieved a slave. Look it up.”

Derek Green: Joseph Clark

Allan Domb: Ed Rendell

Cherelle Parker: W. Wilson Goode and Ed Rendell

Helen Gym: Richardson Dilworth

🎤 This week, we’re going to once again pass the mic to our colleague Aseem Shukla, a journalist with our data-driven storytelling team, to talk about his latest work:

Previously, we used an algorithm to identify six types of Philly Democratic primary voters based on precinct-level results from recent elections. 🔑 This week we wanted to look at how much influence each group has, which depends on three factors: how many voters are in each group, how many of them actually show up to vote, and how united those voters are on their choice.

Winning the mayor’s race will involve building a coalition across at least some of the six groups of voters that we identified — some of whom pull more weight than others. We dug deep into each group’s share of the vote over time. Here’s what we found that:

Click here for the full story. 🔑

The first campaign finance reporting deadline of 2023 is midnight Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know:

What are campaign finance reports? Campaigns and political action committees must periodically submit reports to the Philadelphia Board of Ethics showing where they got their money from, what they spent it on, and whether the campaign received any loans.

Why do they matter? The primary purpose of the campaign finance reporting is to provide transparency around who is seeking to influence elections. But they can also help us understand what’s going on in the race. For instance, they can show who is popular with donors who give small amounts, a sign of a campaign’s momentum; who is getting money from people outside of the city; and who is running out of money and may need to drop out.

Can I see the reports? You can! Just search on the ethics board’s website here. (Wait till Wednesday if you want to see the new reports.) If you don’t want to look at the PDFs yourselves, we on The Inquirer’s politics team will be doing several stories later this week to help you parse through what they mean.

When are the reporting deadlines? The reporting deadlines are set by law, and they become more frequent as the election approaches. The reports due Tuesday cover the period of Jan. 1 to March 27. The next reporting period will cover March 28 to May 1, and the deadline for campaigns to submit reports is midnight May 5.

Philly Mag: The Problem With Jeff Brown’s Racial Code-Switching

Inquirer: Where does mayoral candidate Helen Gym stand on taxes and rent control? She won’t say. 🔑

Billy Penn: These never-before-seen charts show which Philly schools got COVID relief funds

Outgoing Mayor Jim Kenney took a sip of tap water at a news conference last week to show that the city’s water supply was not contaminated by a chemical spill just upstream of Philly.

While the water remained safe throughout the ordeal, Kenney’s administration was criticized for the way it communicated with the public about the averted crisis as it was going on. Some of the candidates running to replace him used the moment to talk about what they would have done were they in Kenney’s shoes.

Bottoms up!

— Anna and Sean