Party control of Pennsylvania’s high court up for grabs

by Rachel Baye May 19, 2015January 7, 2022

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court race on Tuesday hasn’t attracted as much attention as the mayoral contest in Philadelphia.

But the judicial primary, fueled by cash earned from unions and teddy bears, will shape the state’s highest court for a decade or more.

The primary will halve the pool of 12 judges aspiring to fill one of three seats, the most up for grabs in the court’s history. Then the top three vote getters from each party will compete in the November election. At stake: control of the seven-member court, which currently has a Republican majority.

The effects will be long term as those winners will keep their seats for 10 years, then run unopposed in non-partisan retention elections. Pennsylvania is among 22 states that popularly elect the highest court judges. It is one of just eight states, though, to elect its top judges in overtly partisan primaries.

Only one candidate, Republican Correale Stevens, is currently on the Supreme Court. Former Gov. Tom Corbett appointed him to fill a vacancy in 2013. The rest are judges from around the state.

Here are 13 things to know about the money behind the candidates:

Pennsylvania’s Democratic Supreme Court candidates outspent Republicans on airtime nearly 10-to-1 as of May 11, even though both parties have the same number of candidates on the ballot.SHARE THIS:
The ad spending in the race is expected to top $2.4 million by Tuesday’s primary, according to the Brennan Center for Justice and Justice at Stake, which advocate for less spending in judicial races.SHARE THIS:
Unlike Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race — the sole state supreme court election so far this year — no independent groups have aired ads in the Pennsylvania court race. More than twice as many ads aired about the Wisconsin race than had run for the Pennsylvania court race as of May 11.SHARE THIS:
With a $1.4 million campaign war chest, Democrat and Philadelphia County Judge Kevin Dougherty raised more money than the 11 other candidates.SHARE THIS:
at least $350,000 — came from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ Philadelphia chapter, run by his politically powerful brother, John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty. He also received at least $200,000 from other IBEW branches.SHARE THIS:
at least $1 million by Tuesday’s primary, according to the Brennan Center for Justice and Justice at Stake.SHARE THIS:
On the GOP side, Adams County Judge Mike George has raised more than any of the other Republican hopefuls with just over $595,000.SHARE THIS:
More than 80 percent of George’s campaign cash came from a $500,000 donation from longtime friend Gary Lowenthal, the founder of teddy bear line Boyd’s Bears. SHARE THIS:
Democrat and Jefferson County Judge John Foradora was the largest contributor to his own campaign, giving more than $100,000. His wife, Mary Margaret Foradora, was his second largest donor with $62,000.SHARE THIS:
Peter Varischetti and family. SHARE THIS:
Giving more than $79,000, Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Anne Lazarus was the biggest contributor to her Democratic campaign. SHARE THIS:

Sources: Center for Public Integrity analysis of data from media tracking firm Kantar Media/CMAG, Pennsylvania campaign finance reports, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Party control of Pennsylvania’s high court up for grabs

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