GOP-endorsed candidates meet different fates in Pa. Commonwealth, Superior court primaries

Yahoo

21-05-2025

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HARRISBURG — The party-endorsed Republican candidate for Commonwealth Court coasted to victory in the May 20 contested primary, while a Superior Court hopeful who didn't win the GOP nod defeated her opponent.
They'll face Democrats who ran unopposed for vacancies on Pennsylvania's powerful lower appellate courts this November.
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Judges on the nine-member Commonwealth Court preside over civil actions brought by and against Pennsylvania state government, and hear appeals primarily in cases involving state departments and local governments. The 15 judges on Superior Court handle criminal, family and civil cases that are appealed up from county Courts of Common Pleas.
Judges on all three of Pennsylvania's statewide appellate courts — Supreme, Superior and Commonwealth — are elected in partisan, statewide elections and serve 10-year terms. The number of terms they can serve is unlimited, though they must retire at age 75.
In addition to deciding the races for one vacant seat each on Commonwealth and Superior Courts, voters this November will consider whether to give five appellate judges additional 10-year terms.
That includes three state Supreme Court justices, all of whom were elected as Democrats. These yes-or-no retention elections are a high-profile target for Republicans hoping to upset a decade of Democratic control on the court.
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In the Republican primary for a seat on Commonwealth Court, Erie-based attorney Matthew Wolford, who specializes in environmental law, beat Berks County's Joshua Prince, who runs a law firm focused on gun legislation.
The Associated Press called the race before 9 p.m. Wolford was leading with 62% of the vote, according to unofficial results.
Wolford, a solo practitioner, was endorsed by the state Republican Party and was also 'highly recommended' by the Pennsylvania Bar Association.
In its assessment, the PBA noted that Wolford has been 'litigating all aspects of environmental law,' both civilly and criminally and at trial and appellate levels, for almost four decades.
Wolford is 'highly regarded for his work ethic, preparation, common sense, fairness, integrity, prompt and efficient performance and legal expertise in the environmental area,' the association wrote.
In his campaign materials, Wolford described his practice as focusing partially on 'defending clients against government enforcement actions and helping clients work through complex regulatory challenges,' and partly on 'fighting for private property rights,' which includes taking on disputes over zoning and easements and with homeowners' associations.
Prince, who also unsuccessfully ran for Commonwealth Court in 2023, ran a fairly tumultuous race, writing on his campaign website in early February that he would drop out after failing to secure the GOP endorsement, then reversing course nine days later.
He was not recommended by the state bar association because he did not participate in its review process.
Wolford will face Democrat Stella Tsai in the general election. She has served on Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas since 2016, and during the campaign described her work as being across the city's criminal, civil, orphans' court and family court divisions.
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Tsai, who was uncontested in the primary, was endorsed by the state Democratic Party and was rated 'highly recommended' by the PBA. The association wrote that she has 'a long and diverse legal career' with extensive trial experience in state and federal courts, and that she is respected among fellow judges and considered 'enthusiastic, hard-working and fair.'
Tsai said on her campaign website that she has 'volunteered to safeguard voting rights, immigrant rights, and civil rights.' She previously served as president of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania and in various official capacities with the Pennsylvania Bar Association.
In the race for the open Superior Court seat, the GOP primary was again contested, while the Democratic primary was not.
Attorney Maria Battista of Clarion County won the Republican primary.
The Associated Press called her victory over opponent Ann Marie Wheatcraft at 10:18 p.m. May 20. Battista was leading with 56% of the vote, according to unofficial results.
Battista previously served as assistant general counsel for the Pennsylvania Departments of Health and State under former Govs. Tom Corbett, a Republican, and Tom Wolf, a Democrat.
She is president at Judge Government Services, a consulting firm, and ran unsuccessfully for Superior Court in 2023.
The Pennsylvania Bar Association did not recommend Battista because she did not participate in its rating process.
The Pennsylvania Republican Party endorsed Wheatcraft, not Battista.
Wheatcraft has served since 2012 as a Chester County Common Pleas judge and became president judge at the beginning of this year after being selected by her colleagues on the bench.
The PBA 'highly recommended' Wheatcraft for the bench, calling her 'an experienced jurist known for her high degree of professionalism, good judicial temperament, excellent character, and undisputed integrity,' and noting that she has presided over hundreds of criminal and civil cases, and jury and bench trials.
The Democratic candidate in the general election will be Washington County's Brandon P. Neuman, who has served as a judge on the county's Court of Common Pleas since 2018.
He was previously a member of the state House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017.
As a judge, Neuman primarily presides over civil court and a veterans' specialty court, according to his campaign website, and has also presided over criminal and family law cases.
Last year, Neuman handed down a notable ruling that ordered Washington County to notify voters if their mail ballots have errors that would keep them from being counted, so that those voters would be able to cast provisional ballots.
He is 'highly recommended' by the Pennsylvania Bar Association, which said his 'opinions demonstrate knowledge of substantive and procedural legal issues and the ability to provide good factual backgrounds and well-developed legal arguments.'
The association added that Neuman's colleagues believe he has high integrity, a good judicial temperament, and 'treats all individuals fairly,' among other positive attributes.
In retention elections, voters have a yes-or-no choice: They can give a sitting judge another 10-year term or can force the judge off the court. The elections aren't partisan, and there's no opponent.
If a majority of voters choose to reject a judge, the governor can appoint a temporary replacement subject to the approval of the state Senate. An election for a replacement to serve a full 10-year term is then held in the next odd year.
Judges rarely lose retention elections. The last time a judge lost retention was in 2005, amid broad frustration with state lawmakers over a pay-raise scandal.
However, Republicans, who have been frustrated with the Democratic-majority Supreme Court's decisions for a decade, say that a flip is within reach. Now, they're prepared for an expensive political fight.
The judges up for retention on the seven-member state Supreme Court are Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht. All were elected as Democrats.
All three have been involved in a slew of high-profile decisions over the past ten years. The court has overseen and intervened in the commonwealth's congressional and legislative redistricting processes; allowed a case challenging the state's education funding system to go to trial; upheld COVID-19 mediation efforts; and backstopped the state's voting laws against a barrage of conservative challenges, most notably from Donald Trump's 2020 campaign.
They've also made a number of quieter moves that have inflamed opposition from business interests, including loosening restrictions on where a plaintiff can file costly malpractice lawsuits and opening the door to gig workers becoming full employees rather than independent contractors.
When they run for retention, judges' campaigns are limited by the Code of Judicial Conduct. Its rules, aimed at maintaining impartiality, allow them to talk about their approach to the law, but bar them from discussing specific cases before them or definitively saying how they would rule on a given topic.
The lower appellate courts also have a retention election apiece. Superior Court Judge Alice Dubow is up for retention, as is Commonwealth Court Judge Michael Wojcik. Both were elected as Democrats.
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This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PA GOP lower appellate court primaries go to Erie, Clarion lawyers