After Last Year’s $15 Million Retention Battle, No Pennsylvania Judges Face Voters This Year
PHILADELPHIA — Voters who scan this year’s ballot for a judge’s name will not find one. Pennsylvania elects its judges in odd-numbered years, so no judicial retention races appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.
That quiet stands in sharp contrast to last November. Voters retained state Supreme Court Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht by margins of about 27 points each, after a campaign that drew more than $15 million in spending, according to the Associated Press and campaign finance records.
The stakes were the court’s 5-2 Democratic majority and a decade of major rulings upholding mail voting and striking down a congressional map that favored Republicans. Republicans and their allies had hoped to defeat the justices and force their seats onto the 2027 ballot, according to Spotlight PA.
Retention elections work differently from ordinary races. Judges first reach the bench through partisan elections, but after that they face only a yes-or-no vote every 10 years, with no party labels on the ballot. A simple majority keeps them in office.
Defeats are rare. Only one statewide judge has lost a retention vote since 1968, when the state constitution was last overhauled.
The money was the real story of 2025. By comparison, the last Supreme Court retention elections in 2017 drew only about $850,000 in total spending. This time, outside groups on both sides poured in millions, with Democrats outspending Republicans by roughly four to one.
The next fight is already scheduled. In 2027, Chief Justice Debra Todd, a Democrat, and Justice Sallie Mundy, a Republican, will face retention votes. Justice Donohue will also reach the mandatory retirement age of 75 that year, which means her seat will be filled through an open partisan election.
The court’s recent rulings on voting and redistricting suggest the calm of 2026 will not last. When the justices return to the ballot in 2027, the spending and the attention are expected to return with them.