National money starts flowing into critical Pa. Supreme Court retention races

HARRISBURG — A national political group is spending tens of thousands of dollars to urge voters to reject new terms for three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices. The outcomes of these yes-or-no retention elections could open a path to flip the court from Democratic control.

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), which helps fund state-level GOP candidates, has spent at least $85,000 on digital ads through Meta and Google as of Sept. 8. These ads ask viewers to vote “No in November,” request a mail ballot, and stop “radical liberal judges” from securing “another decade of power.”

“This is a political consultant's dream, because your message is just one thing, and that's ‘No,’” GOP political consultant Christopher Nicholas previously told Spotlight PA.

Retention elections are usually sleepy affairs in which judges handily win new terms. Just one statewide judge has lost — Supreme Court Justice Russell Nigro in 2005 amid widespread grassroots discontent with state government.



https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/09/pennsylvania-supreme-court-retention-election-republican-campaign-election/