Pastor Keith Goodman drops out of the mayor's race

Keith Goodman, pastor of the North Philadelphia Seventh-day Adventist Church, on Tuesday ended his brief run for mayor in the May 19 Democratic primary election.

Goodman, who declared his candidacy on Feb. 15, cited his duties as a minister as a reason for dropping his political ambitions.

"In the last month, I have had to conduct four funerals," he said in an email. 'Although I do feel the call to be in elected office, I also feel that the immediate need is to minister to these families and that, at this time, my strongest role is to be an advocate for families with special needs children and who are suffering from the effects of violence and crime."

Tuesday is the deadline for candidates to file nomination petitions to be listed on the primary ballot.

Goodman said he would keep track of the mayoral race and "eventually throw my support to one of the candidates before the primary."

Goodman only moved back to Philadelphia in January and didn't register to vote here until two days after he announced his candidacy.  That put him at risk for a legal challenge to his candidacy.

The City Charter says mayoral candidates must live in the city for three years.  Goodman argued that he lived in the city for three years before moving to Chester, Delaware County, and that the Charter does not say the residency must be established immediately before the election.

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