We're sad to report that Milton Street is no longer running for mayor, but happy to report that he is running for City Council-at-large—against his own nephew! Which means a lot of relatives of mayors and former mayors will be on the May 15 ballot (May 15 being, as the Daily News helpfully points out, the day after Milton is scheduled to stand trial on federal corruption charges). Besides Milton and his nephew Sharif, there'll be W. Wilson Goode, the son of former Mayor Wilson Goode, and Bill Green, the son of former Mayor William Green.

Milton announced his new plan only about 30 minutes before the deadline for filing nominating petitions, but had apparently been gathering signatures for a Council petition since last Thursday. We're not so sure those signatures are all exactly legit, though, judging from the description of his petition: "hundreds of signatures, on page after page, appeared to be in identical handwriting. After he filed, city election officials laughed and shook their heads." So Milton could face some challenges there, and also on his residency status, although he claims he has a legal residence in Philly.

The best part of this whole thing, though, is the description of his nephew Sharif's reaction to the news:

"Thank God," Sharif Street whispered as his uncle told reporters that he wouldn't run for mayor. "Thank God. This is a good thing he's doing."

But as his uncle's new plan emerged, Sharif Street - who had just turned in 5,600 signatures - froze.

"I'm still gathering my thoughts," he said, appearing stunned.

Poor Sharif. Anyway, as expected, Bob Brady, Dwight Evans, Michael Nutter, Chaka Fattah, Tom Knox, and Al Taubenberger have all handed in big fat stacks of signatures and are officially in the mayor's race. Joining them are a mysterious minister named Jesus White and a political activist named Queena Bass.

So the mayor's race may not be as awesome as we'd hoped, but Philly politics in general remain exciting and ridiculous. Hooray!

Image Credit: Flickr user Chung Chu