The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s seven justices face regular retention elections after 10 years on the court.
Pennsylvania voters are set to vote on Tuesday in an election that could shift the balance of the state’s Supreme Court.
Voters will decide whether three of the high court’s seven justices—Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht—should each be retained for another 10-year term. Rather than considering an opponent to any of the three incumbents, voters will simply decide whether they will vote “yes” to retain each justice, or “no” to vacate that seat on the bench.
At the moment, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has a 5–2 Democratic majority.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has called for retaining all three justices. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s Republican Party has urged voters to oppose keeping any of them.
If the voters choose not to retain any of the three justices, Shapiro will be able to nominate replacements, but his nominees would require approval by two-thirds of the Pennsylvania Senate, where Republicans hold a 27–23 majority. Each failed retention vote would create a vacancy that would cut into the Democratic Party’s majority on the court, at least until the Senate confirms a replacement.
Pennsylvania has proven to be a key battleground in recent presidential elections, and its Supreme Court has made consequential election rulings.
In the weeks before the 2020 general election, the court sided with a Democratic Party lawsuit seeking to extend the deadline for counting mailed ballots until Nov. 6, three days after Election Day. Additionally, the court ruled that mailed ballots without clear postmarks would be presumed as valid votes, as long as a preponderance of evidence didn’t suggest a particular ballot was mailed after Election Day.
The makeup of the court could prove consequential for the 2026 midterms, the 2028 presidential race, and congressional redistricting over the next decade.
Since Pennsylvania adopted its judicial retention system in 1968, voters have voted only once not to retain a jurist. Supreme Court Justice Russell Nigro lost his retention vote in 2005 after serving out a full 10-year term.
By Ryan Morgan
