Pennsylvania Supreme Court retains all 3 Democratic justices on ballot
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All three justices on the ballot in Pennsylvania will keep their jobs after winning races Tuesday that threatened to upend the liberal makeup of the state Supreme Court.
Democrats will continue to hold a 5-2 majority on the state’s highest court as a result of voters overwhelmingly choosing to retain Democratic Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht. The Associated Press announced the races around 10 p.m. local time.
“Tonight, folks across the Commonwealth sent a resounding message by voting to retain all three Supreme Court Justices who will continue to uphold the rule of law, protect our elections, and protect our constitutional rights,” Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement. he said.
Republicans LAUNCH CAMPAIGN TO TURN THE DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY OF THE Pennsylvania SUPREME COURT.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Christine Donohue speaks during the swearing-in ceremony on January 8, 2016, in Pittsburgh. (Keith Srakocic/AP Photo)
The race has attracted unusual attention as state and national groups spill what they estimate is more than the Associated Press had predicted. $15 million He got involved by pushing past spending in past retention elections and highlighting the risks of changing the court majority.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices serve 10-year terms and may serve consecutive terms until they reach age 75, after which they must retire. Donohue, 72, will not serve another term.
Republicans’ battles with the judiciary have intensified this year, with judges routinely blocking President Donald Trump’s agenda. Their defeat in Pennsylvania, a battleground state that has seen high-stakes election litigation in recent years, followed a bitter loss in April in an expensive Supreme Court race in Wisconsin, another swing state.
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A voter drops off a mail-in ballot at the City-County Building in downtown Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Trump weighed in on the race this week, calling for the removal of three judges. Trump said that “they have repeatedly made decisions on behalf of Sleepy Joe Biden and intervened in the 2020 Elections” and that it is now “time for Justice”.
The odds were stacked against the GOP, as only one judge in Pennsylvania, Russell Nigro, was voted out in the retention race. Nigro was defeated in 2005 amid public outrage over legislative and Supreme Court justice salary raises.
A voter uses a ballot box at the on-demand voting and voting center at the Bucks County Executive building on October 31, 2024 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. (Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)
Republicans have devoted their spending and resources to convincing voters that impeaching the justices would be a well-deserved referendum on the Supreme Court’s controversial decisions on COVID-19 quarantines and election rules. Democrats argued that this loss would threaten women’s access to abortion and reproductive health services.
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The state’s highest court rejected a Republican effort to throw out 2.5 million mail-in ballots in the 2020 election, but handed the GOP a mix of smaller wins and losses in the 2024 election because of mail-in and provisional ballot lawsuits.
In 2020, the state Supreme Court also upheld Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s decision to temporarily close non-essential businesses in the state due to COVID-19.
