How Pennsylvania judges facing retention votes ruled on key election cases

This November’s retention elections for judges on Pennsylvania’s appellate courts are shaping up to be more combative and political than usual, thanks in part to a decade of battles over the commonwealth’s election laws.

Three state Supreme Court justices, all Democrats, are up for retention this November, which means voters must select “yes” or “no” on whether to keep the judges on the bench for another 10 years.

Democrats have controlled the court since 2015, and only one judge on Pennsylvania’s appellate courts has ever lost a retention election. But Republicans see an opportunity for a repeat of that this year and a chance to take back the court. They’re urging voters to vote “no” on the three incumbents, citing among other things, their rulings on 2020 election logistics, ballot curing, and redistricting. If the no vote prevails for a judge, the governor and state Senate could select a temporary replacement, and the seat would be up for election in 2027.

“They’ve issued blatantly partisan rulings, from accepting late mail-in ballots to approving a biased redistricting map,” James Markley, communications director for the Pennsylvania GOP, said of the Supreme Court’s Democratic majority. “And now they expect another 10-year term? Pennsylvanians don’t want a decade more of liberal judicial overreach.”



https://penncapital-star.com/election-2025/how-pennsylvania-judges-facing-retention-votes-ruled-on-key-election-cases/