Pennsylvanians voted Tuesday to keep a trio of state Supreme Court justices originally elected as Democrats, following a multimillion-dollar retention campaign.
A pair of Democrats also prevailed in contested races for spots on two state appeals courts. In Philadelphia, voters re-elected District Attorney Larry Krasner and City Controller Christy Brady.
No Republican candidate or cause prevailed in any statewide or city contest, mirroring a national trend, with Democrats scoring big wins Tuesday in gubernatorial contests in New Jersey and Virginia.
Political observers were eyeing the Supreme Court retention votes as the first major election in the country’s most populous ‘swing state’ since President Donald Trump’s second term began.
Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman Eugene DePasquale said in a statement that the results “delivered a resounding message by standing up for our freedoms and rejecting Trump’s chaos.”
“In the face of wealthy special interests pushing rampant misinformation and a dangerous agenda, Pennsylvania voters retained all three Supreme Court justices – protecting our freedoms and rejecting MAGA billionaires’ efforts to buy the Court,” DePasquale added.
"Yesterday's election results were certainly not what we wanted,” Greg Rothman, the leader of the state GOP, said in a statement Wednesday. “It was a tough election for Republicans in Pennsylvania and across the country.”
Turnout in Philadelphia was high, at least compared to previous off-year elections. More than 35% of registered city voters submitted ballots, up 16.6% in the May primary and just under 22% in the 2021 general election, with similar offices on the line.
Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht – all originally elected as Democrats in 2015 – received “yes” votes in their quest to remain on the commonwealth’s highest bench.
Preliminary returns indicate that about 61% of voters supported retaining the justices; their vote shares were much higher in Philadelphia, hovering at around 86%.
“Despite the partisan attacks, tonight’s result confirms that Pennsylvanians have trust in the independence of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and, additionally, appreciate the importance of a stable Pennsylvania Supreme Court,” Donohue wrote in a social media post.
Retention elections present “yes” or “no” choices for voters on whether a judge should serve another 10-year term. Political party affiliations are not listed, in an effort to “keep judges out of the political fray while at the same time holding them accountable to voters,” a document on the Pennsylvania court system’s website states.
Removing a judge from the bench through a retention election is exceedingly rare, and the races are typically quiet affairs. However, the Supreme Court retentions became the subject of extensive political organizing, attracting nearly $10 million worth of television advertisements, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Progressive activists expressed particular concern about the influence of Pennsylvania’s wealthiest individual, Jeff Yass, who has backed conservative causes and reportedly helped fund the campaign to remove the three justices.
“A right-wing billionaire tried to buy our democracy and our state Supreme Court,” Nydea Graves, of One Pennsylvania, said in a statement. “But voters rejected the MAGA agenda.”
Washington County Court of Common Pleas Judge Brandon Neuman won a three-way race for a single spot on the 15-member Superior Court, one of two statewide appeals panels.
The Democrat received nearly 56% of the vote, results posted to the state’s election returns dashboard showed Wednesday, besting the GOP nominee, attorney Maria Battista, and Daniel Wassmer, of the Liberal Party.
In the other competitive race, for a seat on the Commonwealth Court, Democratic candidate Stella Tsai, a Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas judge, defeated Republican nominee Matt Wolford, an Erie-based environmental attorney. Tsai earned nearly 57% of the tally, to Wolford’s 43%.
Superior Court Judge Alice Beck Dubow and Commonwealth Court Judge Michael Wojcik were each retained for 10-year terms.
Eleven Democrats – Will Braverman, Sarah Jones, Deborah Watson-Stokes, Kia Ghee, Irina Ehrlich, Larry Farnese, Leon King II, Brian Kisielewski, Anthony Stefanski, Joseph Russo and Jennifer Santiago – were elected without opposition to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
The same goes for the four Democratic candidates for Municipal Court – Amanda Davidson, Sherrie Cohen, Cortez Patton and Michael Parkinson.
In the Court of Common Pleas, voters retained Gwendolyn Bright, Ann Butchart, Scott DiClaudio, Michael Fanning, Daine Grey Jr., Christopher Mallios, Walter Olszewski, Frank Palumbo, Rainy Papademetriou, Tracy Roman, Stephanie Sawyer, Susan Schulman and Lyris Younge.
Municipal Court judges are permitted to run for six-year terms through retention elections. David Conroy, Jacquelyn Frazier-Lyde, Henry Lewandowski, Wendy Pew and T. Francis Shields received enough votes to continue on the bench.
Incumbent Philadelphia Controller Christy Brady was overwhelmingly reelected, receiving 86% of the vote share to fend off a challenge from Republican Ari Patrinos, according to results posted by the City Commissioners.
Brady began serving in the position in an acting capacity in 2022 when then-Controller Rebecca Rhynhart resigned to run for mayor. She was elected last year to serve the remainder of Rhynhart’s stint and has now secured a full four-year term.
The city controller conducts audits and analyses to track city money and hold officials accountable.
