The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, and Stephen Wolf, with additional contributions from Daniel Donner, David Jarman, Steve Singiser, James Lambert and David Beard.
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Leading Off
● Philadelphia, PA Mayor: New campaign finance reports reveal that Republican megadonor Jeff Yass, a charter schools advocate who is the wealthiest man in Pennsylvania, is the principal funder behind the attack ads being leveled at former Philadelphia City Councilmember Helen Gym ahead of the May 16 Democratic primary for mayor―a race that’s now the most expensive in city history.
Yass is responsible for $750,000 of the $1 million raised by a PAC called Coalition for Safety and Equitable Growth, which has run negative ads against Gym while ignoring her intra-party rivals. And this isn’t the only Democratic primary that Yass, a registered Libertarian who lives outside city limits, is interested in, as he’s also aiding an effort to help business-aligned candidates for City Council.