In purple Pennsylvania, Democrats mobilized their voters better and swept all statewide judicial races in this off-year election. Pennsylvania results are considered unofficial until the votes are certified, which takes days.
Justice of Supreme Court
In the Pennsylvania Supreme Court race, the state’s highest court, Democratic candidate Daniel McCaffery, received 54 percent or 1,632,786 votes compared to Republican candidate Carolyn Carluccio with 46 percent or 1,386,150 votes as of 11:30 p.m. according to Pennsylvania Department of State results.
Mr. McCaffery is currently a Superior Court judge; Ms. Carluccio is currently the president judge of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.
Mr. McCaffery will fill the seat left vacant by former Democratic Chief Justice Max Baer, who died in September 2022, just months before turning 75, the mandatory retirement age.
The state Supreme Court remains majority Democrat, with five Democratic justices and two Republicans.
Mr. McCaffery largely used pro-abortion attack advertisements against Ms. Carluccio, who opposes abortion.
In recent years, contested procedural issues relating to elections have been heard by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The court may be called on again to settle such disputes, making the balance of the court an important factor in state and national politics.
The annual salary for a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice is $244,793.
Judge of Superior Court
In the Pennsylvania Superior Court, voters chose between four candidates, two Republican and two Democratic, for two seats. The court’s 15 seats are currently comprised of seven Republican and seven Democratic judges plus one vacancy.
Voters were filling a vacancy and naming a replacement for Republican Judge John T. Bender, who reaches the mandatory retirement age of 75 this year.
With the addition of two Democratic judges, the court balance will be eight Democrats and seven Republicans.
The annual salary for a judge of the Superior Court is $230,974.
From top vote-getters to lowest, here are the results in the superior court race as of 11:30 p.m.
Democrat Jill Beck, 28 percent or 1,556,844 votes. Ms. Beck is a Pittsburgh attorney working in commercial litigation.
Democrat Timika Lane, 26 percent or 1,416,924 votes. Ms. Lane is a judge on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. She previously ran for Superior Court in 2021.
Republican Maria Battista, 23 percent or 1,307965 votes. Ms. Battista was previously assistant general counsel for the Pennsylvania health and state departments. She has been a prosecutor in Franklin and Venango Counties and was a contract specialist for the Department of Defense until she left that job to run for office.
Republican Harry F. Smail Jr. had 22 percent or 1,207,523 votes. Mr. Smail has been a Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas judge since 2014.
Judge of Commonwealth Court
Democrat Matt Wolf had 53 percent or 1,584,372 votes. Mr. Wolf has been a judge on the Philadelphia Municipal Court since 2017. He worked as a trial attorney for 25 years at various firms. Mr. Wolf joined the U.S. Army Reserve in 2003, where he served as an officer, and was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. On deployment, he was a legal advisor to the U.S. Army.
Republican Megan Martin received 47 percent or 1,403,561 votes. Ms. Martin is a Widener University law school graduate, former parliamentarian of the state Senate, an attorney for former Governors Tom Ridge and Tom Corbett, and an attorney for the U.S. Navy.
The Commonwealth Court judge earns $230,974 annually.
Pennsylvanians also chose local judges for both the county Court of Common Pleas and the Magisterial District (MD).
In Pennsylvania, the local MD judge does not have to have a law background to hold the position, and at an annual salary of $106,254 a year, it is a sought-after political position when seats come open. This judge handles criminal arraignments of major crimes and noncriminal small claims court. Each county has multiple MD judges.
When an MD judge believes police have presented enough evidence to hold someone over for court, the accused makes a plea—guilty or not guilty—and they next go to the Court of Common Pleas in the county where they are charged. Common Pleas judges are paid just over $230,000 annually. They hear jury trials in criminal and civil matters.
The annual salary for a judge of the Superior Court is $230,974.
From top vote-getters to lowest, here are the results in the superior court race as of 11:30 p.m.
Democrat Jill Beck, 28 percent or 1,556,844 votes. Ms. Beck is a Pittsburgh attorney working in commercial litigation.
Democrat Timika Lane, 26 percent or 1,416,924 votes. Ms. Lane is a judge on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. She previously ran for Superior Court in 2021.
Republican Maria Battista, 23 percent or 1,307965 votes. Ms. Battista was previously assistant general counsel for the Pennsylvania health and state departments. She has been a prosecutor in Franklin and Venango Counties and was a contract specialist for the Department of Defense until she left that job to run for office.
Republican Harry F. Smail Jr. had 22 percent or 1,207,523 votes. Mr. Smail has been a Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas judge since 2014.
Judge of Commonwealth Court
Democrat Matt Wolf had 53 percent or 1,584,372 votes. Mr. Wolf has been a judge on the Philadelphia Municipal Court since 2017. He worked as a trial attorney for 25 years at various firms. Mr. Wolf joined the U.S. Army Reserve in 2003, where he served as an officer, and was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. On deployment, he was a legal advisor to the U.S. Army.
Republican Megan Martin received 47 percent or 1,403,561 votes. Ms. Martin is a Widener University law school graduate, former parliamentarian of the state Senate, an attorney for former Governors Tom Ridge and Tom Corbett, and an attorney for the U.S. Navy.
The Commonwealth Court judge earns $230,974 annually.
Pennsylvanians also chose local judges for both the county Court of Common Pleas and the Magisterial District (MD).
In Pennsylvania, the local MD judge does not have to have a law background to hold the position, and at an annual salary of $106,254 a year, it is a sought-after political position when seats come open. This judge handles criminal arraignments of major crimes and noncriminal small claims court. Each county has multiple MD judges.
When an MD judge believes police have presented enough evidence to hold someone over for court, the accused makes a plea—guilty or not guilty—and they next go to the Court of Common Pleas in the county where they are charged. Common Pleas judges are paid just over $230,000 annually. They hear jury trials in criminal and civil matters.
“Pennsylvania results are considered unofficial until the votes are certified, which takes days.”,,,,,,,and therein lies the rub, the rhyme, the reason why Republicans will never again prevail in Pennsylvania so long as they let the idle’d hands that turn fair election results inside their Democrat Pennsylvanian run election city workshops into election stealing that grinds the real results into Orwellian Big Borther socialist sawdust. Simple solution is that all results must be reported within 12 hours of the polls closing. Those votes unreported by then should get thrown out. Unlike the Communist or Putin run Soviet Union where the evil vote stealers win by a 90% margin in their stolen elections, our local socialists disguised as Democrats just steal enough to make things look legitimate. THE PEOPLE are deluded to actually believe them.
AND this should be the last nail in the POLLS ARE MEANINGFUL predictors, coffin.
This Treasonous, dishonest, destructive, woke, immoral, Socialist Democrat Party’s objective is to deliberately lie, cheat and steal. To disregard the U.S. Constitution and our laws, in order to take total control of the American people by restricting U.S. citizens their constitutional rights and freedoms, including freedom of speech. Stopping oil production, increase Spending, Taxes and the inflation cost of everything and bring American commerce and economy to its knees and to promote Socialism, enforced by their political DOJ, their FBI Gestapo and IRS.
Then access power and retain it by any means available –
No matter the costs to the people, the government or the nation.
This treasonous, destructive, immoral, lying, woke, socialist Democrat Party, their Democrat RINOs and their corrupt, demented, obedient sock-puppet president Joe Biden has become our country’s most destructive and deadliest ENEMY!
But the Democrat Party’s “useful idiots” continue to bow down to their Democrat Masters.
The journey of a1000 miles begins with a single step whose repetition gets you to your final destination. The journey of destroying our American democracy begins with one Democrat party stuffed ballot box or one tossed Republican ballot box, or one fake submitted mail-in vote, whose repetition slowly gets the Democrats to their destination which is total power control over every aspect of your life where nothing and nobody get to be exceptional, just mediocre pablum of the masses to become food for the self-serving self-god socialists to devour. In 74 years, I can think of NO ELECTION where the result was stolen in favor of the Republicans! This is not supposed to occur in an informed society which just proves our media and socially conquered educational system are just Democrat used tools of vote stealing disinformation.
That makes you wonder, WHAT BRAIN if any these voters IN PA have…
GOP in disarray and problems might be on the horizon. The big lie, fear of retribution, fear what will happen this time if GOP doesn’t prevail in 2024. How bad will the next “Jan 6th be?”. You got to wonder, what’s going to happen. Being conservative is OK but, some of the O-kee-doke rhetoric being dished out is simply pure madness. Folks talking about voter fraud now. Just like in 2019. A year before the election. Just in case we lose..
YOU can not fix STUPID people!
YIKES! it is happening again.