« on: May 16, 2023, 10:29:16 am »
https://krdo.com/news/2023/05/16/a-pennsylvania-supreme-court-primary-could-offer-clues-about-the-gops-direction-in-a-key-presidential-battleground/ Tuesday’s primary election in Pennsylvania will give Republican voters the opportunity to choose either a candidate for the state Supreme Court supported by the GOP establishment or one who briefly halted the certification of the state’s 2020 election results and has the backing of a key Donald Trump ally.
Political observers say the largely under-the-radar primary could offer an early test of the organizing strength of the GOP’s ultra-conservative wing in this crucial presidential battleground.
Four candidates – two Republicans and two Democrats – are vying for an open seat on Pennsylvania’s high court, following the death of former Chief Justice Max Baer, a Democrat, in 2022. Each party’s winner will advance to a general election in November.
In the GOP primary, Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Carluccio is facing Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough. Democrats, meanwhile, are picking between Superior Court Judges Daniel McCaffery and Deborah Kunselman. McCaffery, a former assistant district attorney in Philadelphia, has the endorsement of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.
The outcome of the race will not tip the partisan balance on the high court, where Democrats currently hold a 4-2 majority on the seven-member body, but it could narrow the gap and start to lay the foundation for a shift in power in future election cycles, experts say.
“It could create a situation where, very shortly, the partisan balance on this court could be up for grabs,” said Douglas Keith, who researches judicial elections at the liberal-leaning Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s law school.
State supreme courts are the final arbiters on key issues, ranging from election ground rules to abortion policies. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld the state’s no-excuse mail voting law, and last year selected the state’s congressional map, breaking an impasse between the then-Republican controlled legislature and the state’s Democratic governor.
Justices on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court serve 10-year terms. After the first election, they run in so-called retention elections without opponents.
Much of the attention in the Pennsylvania contest has centered on the GOP primary between Carluccio and McCullough, who halted certification the results – including Joe Biden’s victory in the state – in a ruling that was swiftly overturned by the state Supreme Court.
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