Why Pittsburgh Progressives Are Targeting Judge Elections This Year

Leiggi is not alone in this mindset; she’s one of the “Slate of Eight” candidates running for the court who are endorsed by local progressive groups seeking to unwind what they see as a longstanding culture of punishment in Allegheny County.

This slate features candidates from backgrounds that tend to be underrepresented in the judiciary, with multiple current or former public defenders, a former social worker, a union lawyer, and a civil rights attorney. Only one has worked as a prosecutor, compared to at least seven of the 14 candidates who are not on the slate, according to Bolts’ review of their biographies.

The groups backing the “Slate of Eight,” such as the Pennsylvania Working Families Party and Pittsburgh’s Alliance for Police Accountability, hope that people with these types of experiences would, as judges, be attuned to the issues faced by criminal defendants, from high bail to poor jail conditions. Their work matches nationwide efforts by progressives to place people with public defense experience on the bench, including through local elections, and to push against the usual dominance of prosecutors.

Local police unions, which have tended to oppose criminal justice reforms, have endorsed at least five competing candidates in the Allegheny County race, four of whom are former prosecutors.

The candidates face their first test next week, in the May 20 Democratic primary, which will be followed by a general election in November.




https://boltsmag.org/allegheny-county-judge-elections-2025/