Pennsylvania keeps three liberal justices, preserving swing-state court control | Pennsylvania

Three liberal justices won another 10-year term on the Pennsylvania supreme court, handing Democrats a major victory and allowing them to maintain their 5-2 advantage on a vital body that could make major decisions on abortion and voting rights in a key battleground state for years to come.

In Pennsylvania, supreme court justices are first elected in partisan elections, and then every 10 years in technically nonpartisan contests, voters decide whether to keep those justices in office. Three justices — Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht — were elected as Democrats in 2015.

The court has since played a major role in election disputes, striking down the state’s sanctions. Severely gerrymandered map in 2018 and deciding in favor of the voters of Pennsylvania. mail ballot rules.

Pennsylvania has not had just one judge since 1968. If Donohue, Dougherty and Wecht had all been ousted, it could have led to a 2-2 split, with judges on other courts potentially replacing them, since a special election wouldn’t be held until 2027. Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro could make interim appointments to fill vacancies, but he would be extremely unlikely to receive the necessary two-thirds support in the state Senate.

Judicial retention contests are typically low-turnout contests, but this year’s race in Pennsylvania saw an influx of interest and campaign money. Expenses determined in the race exceed $15 millionAccording to the Associated Press. In recent years, it has become more widely recognized that state supreme courts have tremendous power to shape state policies and thus force more spending on elections. Campaigns and outside groups spent more than $100 million in one year state supreme Court elections were held in Wisconsin at the beginning of this year.

Because state supreme courts often decide election law issues, swing states such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and North Carolina focus heavily on the composition of these courts.

Drawing attention to the importance of the competition, Donald Trump weighed In the final days of the election, Donohue called Dougherty and Wecht “radical supreme court justices” and urged voters to vote against voting. Barack Obama An appeal was made to voters to support protecting judges like Shapiro and Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin, who campaigned in the state ahead of the election.