George Twardy Jr.
George Twardy Jr. (Democratic Party) is a judge of the Philadelphia Municipal Court in Pennsylvania. He assumed office on January 3, 2022. His current term ends on January 3, 2028.
Twardy (Democratic Party) ran for election for judge of the Philadelphia Municipal Court in Pennsylvania. He won in the general election on November 2, 2021.
Biography
Twardy received an undergraduate degree from the University of Dayton and a J.D. from Widener University.[1]
Career
- 1992-Present: Owner, Twardy & Associates, LLC (formerly the Law Offices of George Twardy, Jr.)
- 1990-1992: Attorney for a national insurance company
- 1988-1990: Law clerk, former Judge Herbert Hutton of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania[2]
Awards and associations
- Member, Philadelphia Bar Association
- Member, Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association
- Member, Widener Law School Alumni Board
- Hearing committee member, Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- Former member, Board of View
- Former township commissioner[2]
Elections
2021
Philadelphia Municipal Court Judges Gerard A. Kosinski and Marsha H. Neifield filed to run for retention in 2021, but later withdrew.[3] As a result, three seats on the municipal court were up in the primary election, but five seats were up in the general election on November 2, 2021. The Democratic Party nominated candidates Christian DiCicco and Fran McCloskey to run for the additional two seats in the general election. Their names did not appear on the Democratic primary ballot.[4][5]
See also: City elections in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2021)
General election
General election for Philadelphia Municipal Court (5 seats)
Greg Yorgey-Girdy, Fran McCloskey, Michael Lambert, George Twardy Jr., and Christian DiCicco won election in the general election for Philadelphia Municipal Court on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Greg Yorgey-Girdy (D)  | 21.0 | 146,913 |
| ✔ | Fran McCloskey (D) | 20.1 | 140,486 | |
| ✔ | Michael Lambert (D) | 19.9 | 139,656 | |
| ✔ |  | George Twardy Jr. (D) | 19.9 | 139,044 |
| ✔ | Christian DiCicco (D) | 18.9 | 132,537 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 1,412 | ||
| Total votes: 700,048 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Philadelphia Municipal Court (5 seats)
Greg Yorgey-Girdy, Michael Lambert, and George Twardy Jr. defeated Barbara Thomson in the Democratic primary for Philadelphia Municipal Court on May 18, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Greg Yorgey-Girdy | 27.9 | 95,468 |
| ✔ | Michael Lambert | 27.0 | 92,500 | |
| ✔ | | George Twardy Jr. | 24.1 | 82,529 |
 | Barbara Thomson | 21.0 | 71,870 | |
| Total votes: 342,367 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Christian DiCicco (D)
- John Padova Jr. (D)
- Caroline Turner (D)
- Fran McCloskey (D)
- Rania Major (D)
- Sherrie Cohen (D)
2017
Philadelphia Municipal Court
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary election for District 1 of the Philadelphia Municipal Court.
| Philadelphia Municipal Court, District 1 Democratic Primary Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Marissa Brumbach |
38.00% | 78,443 |
| Matt Wolf |
25.39% | 52,424 |
| George Twardy | 15.31% | 31,612 |
| Sherman Toppin | 10.53% | 21,748 |
| Jon Marshall | 7.44% | 15,355 |
| William Rice | 3.19% | 6,584 |
| Betsy Wahl | 0.06% | 130 |
| Crystal Powell | 0.03% | 62 |
| Christian DiCicco | 0.03% | 55 |
| Write-in votes | 0.02% | 33 |
| Total Votes | 206,446 | |
| Source: Office of the Philadelphia City Commissioners, "Unofficial 100% Machine Results Available," accessed June 28, 2017 | ||
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas
Pennsylvania held local judicial elections on November 7, 2017. A primary election occurred on May 16, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was March 7, 2017. Candidates and recently appointed judges of the Courts of Common Pleas must initially run in partisan elections. Subsequent terms are won through retention elections. Elections for the Magisterial District Courts are always partisan. Pennsylvania allows cross-filing for candidates running in partisan elections. Most candidates run in both the Democratic and Republican primaries.[6]
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for nine open seats on the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.[7]
| Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, Democratic Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Stella Tsai Incumbent |
7.73% | 63,980 |
| Viktoria Kristiansson |
7.57% | 62,656 |
| Lucretia Clemons Incumbent |
5.68% | 47,015 |
| Deborah D. Cianfrani |
5.30% | 43,838 |
| Zac Shaffer |
4.79% | 39,633 |
| Deborah Canty |
4.74% | 39,239 |
| Shanese Johnson |
4.45% | 36,792 |
| Mark B. Cohen |
4.41% | 36,461 |
| Vincent Furlong Incumbent |
4.34% | 35,904 |
| Jennifer Schultz | 4.14% | 34,224 |
| Daniel Sulman Incumbent | 4.11% | 33,984 |
| Leon Goodman | 4.03% | 33,338 |
| Wendi Barish | 3.85% | 31,831 |
| Henry McGregor Sias | 3.81% | 31,526 |
| Rania Major | 3.67% | 30,393 |
| John Macoretta | 3.60% | 29,829 |
| David Conroy | 3.44% | 28,453 |
| Brian McLaughlin | 3.17% | 26,214 |
| Crystal Powell | 2.99% | 24,756 |
| Vincent Melchiorre Incumbent | 2.94% | 24,360 |
| Lawrence Bozzelli | 2.88% | 23,862 |
| Danyl Patterson | 2.00% | 16,582 |
| Terri Booker | 1.71% | 14,176 |
| Leonard Deutchman | 1.52% | 12,590 |
| Mark Moore | 1.49% | 12,305 |
| Jon Marshall | 0.92% | 7,584 |
| William Rice | 0.72% | 5,985 |
| Total Votes | 827,510 | |
| Source: Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Primary Judge of the Court of Common Pleas," accessed May 16, 2017 | ||
Twardy filed to run for the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas but withdrew his candidacy on March 28, 2017.[8]
Selection method
- See also: Partisan election of judges
The 439 judges of the court of common pleas are elected to 10-year terms in partisan elections. Candidates may cross-file with both political parties for the partisan primaries, which are followed by general elections where the primary winners from each party compete.[9][10] Judges must run in yes-no retention elections if they wish to continue serving after their first term. A separate part of the ballot is designated for these elections, and judges' names appear without respect to party affiliation.[9][11]
- The president judge of each Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas is chosen by either peer vote or seniority, depending on the size of the court. Statewide, all courts composed of more than seven individuals must select their chief judge by peer vote. Those with seven or fewer members select their chief by seniority.[9][12]
Qualifications
To serve on an appellate or general jurisdiction court, a judge must:[9]
- have state residence for at least one year;
- be a district resident for at least one year (for common pleas judges);
- be a member of the state bar; and
- be under the age of 75.
While retirement at 75 is mandatory, judges may apply for senior judge status. Senior judges may serve as such until the last day of the calendar year in which they turn 78.[12]
2015
Twardy filed to run for the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas but withdrew his candidacy on April 2, 2015.[13]
Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
George Twardy Jr. did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
See also
2021 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Martindale.com, "George R. Twardy, Jr. - Lawyer Profile," accessed April 3, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 George Twardy campaign website, accessed April 3, 2015
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "DECLARATIONS OF CANDIDACY FILED BY INCUMBENT JUDGES FOR RETENTION IN 2021," accessed October 20, 2021
- ↑ Philadelphia 3.0, "‘MAGIC SEAT’ JUDGES AND THE BROKEN CHAIN OF PARTY ACCOUNTABILITY," September 10, 2021
- ↑ Office of the Philadelphia City Commissioners, "Municipal and Special Election Philadelphia County," November 2, 2021
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed February 23, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Candidate Database," accessed March 20, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Candidate Information - TWARDY, GEORGE JR (2017)," accessed April 1, 2021
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Pennsylvania," archived October 3, 2014
- ↑ The Morning Call, "Ban Cross-filing As One Step," January 24, 1985
- ↑ The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, "In Re: Nomination Papers of Marakay Rogers, Christina Valente and Carl J. Romanelli," November 7, 2006
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 The Pennsylvania Code, "Chapter 7. Assignment of Judges," accessed September 3, 2014
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Withdrawal List," accessed April 3, 2015
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