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Ilan Zur
Ilan Zur (Democratic Party, Republican Party) ran for election for judge of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. He lost in the Democratic primary on May 20, 2025. He lost as a write-in in the Republican primary on May 20, 2025.
Biography
Ilan Zur earned a bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University in 1994 and a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1998. His career experience includes working as a deputy district attorney for Allegheny County and as the supervisor of the Violent Crimes and Narcotics Division. Previously, he worked in the district attorney’s office as a homicide prosecutor.[1]
Elections
2025
See also: Municipal elections in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (2025)
General election
General election for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas (8 seats)
The following candidates are running in the general election for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
 | Heather Schmidt Bresnahan (D) | |
 | Quita Bridges (D) | |
 | Amanda Green-Hawkins (D) | |
 | Jaime Hickton (D)  | |
 | Matthew Rudzki (D) | |
| Julie Capone (D / R) | ||
| Anthony DeLuca (D / R) | ||
 | Dan Miller (D / R) | |
 | Alyssa Cowan (R) | |
 | Bryan Neft (R) | |
| Jackie Obara (R) | ||
 | Michele Santicola (R) | |
| Sarra Terry (R) | ||
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas (8 seats)
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on May 20, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Amanda Green-Hawkins | 9.0 | 93,877 |
| ✔ | | Dan Miller | 7.7 | 80,797 |
| ✔ | | Quita Bridges | 7.7 | 80,713 |
| ✔ | Julie Capone | 7.5 | 78,093 | |
| ✔ | Anthony DeLuca | 7.3 | 76,295 | |
| ✔ | | Heather Schmidt Bresnahan | 7.0 | 72,780 |
| ✔ | | Jaime Hickton | 6.1 | 64,112 |
| ✔ | | Matthew Rudzki | 5.5 | 57,354 |
| Alyssa Cowan | 5.3 | 55,302 | |
 | Lauren Leiggi | 4.1 | 42,586 | |
| Amy Mathieu | 3.7 | 38,708 | ||
| Michele Santicola | 3.2 | 33,416 | |
| Carmen Robinson | 3.0 | 31,480 | ||
| Sarra Terry | 2.9 | 30,439 | ||
| Bryan Neft | 2.7 | 28,661 | |
 | Ilan Zur | 2.7 | 28,566 | |
| Craig Stephens | 2.7 | 27,713 | ||
| Hilary Wheatley | 2.6 | 27,488 | ||
 | Mike Sullivan | 2.6 | 27,277 | |
| Elizabeth Hughes | 2.5 | 26,114 | ||
| Jackie Obara | 2.4 | 25,210 | ||
| Dennis Very | 1.4 | 15,081 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 1,437 | ||
| Total votes: 1,043,499 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas (8 seats)
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on May 20, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Julie Capone | 16.7 | 32,612 | |
| ✔ | | Michele Santicola | 16.0 | 31,361 |
| ✔ | Jackie Obara | 15.2 | 29,854 | |
| ✔ | Sarra Terry | 14.1 | 27,547 | |
| ✔ | | Dan Miller | 12.4 | 24,289 |
| ✔ | | Alyssa Cowan | 11.1 | 21,655 |
| ✔ | Anthony DeLuca (Write-in) | 3.3 | 6,397 | |
| ✔ | | Bryan Neft (Write-in) | 3.1 | 6,138 |
| Dennis Very (Write-in) | 3.1 | 6,001 | ||
| Ilan Zur (Write-in) | 3.0 | 5,792 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.1 | 4,148 | ||
| Total votes: 195,794 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Zur received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
- Pittsburgh City Controller Rachael Heisler (D)
- Pittsburgh City Councilor Erika Strassburger (D)
- The 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club (Pittsburgh, PA)
- International Union of Operating Engineers Local 66
- Pennsylvania Laborers District Council
- Beacon Coalition
- Pittsburgh 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club
2021
See also: Municipal elections in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (2021)
General election
General election for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas (10 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Nicola Henry-Taylor (D) | 6.9 | 153,174 |
| ✔ | Tiffany Sizemore (D) | 6.8 | 151,134 | |
| ✔ |  | Elliot Howsie (D) | 6.8 | 150,872 |
| ✔ |  | Wrenna Watson (D) | 6.8 | 149,859 |
| ✔ | Chelsa Wagner (D) | 6.7 | 148,534 | |
| ✔ |  | Lisa Middleman (R / D) | 6.7 | 147,452 |
| ✔ | Thomas P. Caulfield (D) | 6.6 | 147,367 | |
| ✔ |  | Sabrina Korbel (R / D) | 6.6 | 147,303 |
| ✔ |  | Bruce Beemer (R / D) | 6.4 | 141,948 |
| ✔ | Jessel Costa (D) | 6.4 | 140,773 | |
| Anthony DeLuca (R) | 5.0 | 110,422 | ||
 | Joseph Patrick Murphy (R) | 4.6 | 103,004 | |
| Mark Patrick Flaherty (R) | 4.6 | 102,482 | ||
 | William Caye II (R) | 4.5 | 99,217 | |
| Daniel J. Konieczka Jr. (R) | 4.4 | 97,283 | ||
| Chuck Porter (R) | 4.3 | 95,305 | ||
| Rick Hosking (R) | 3.8 | 85,111 | ||
 | Richard Weiss (G) | 1.9 | 41,948 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 3,066 | ||
| Total votes: 2,216,254 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas (10 seats)
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on May 18, 2021.
| Total votes: 1,148,248 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas (10 seats)
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on May 18, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joseph Patrick Murphy | 7.2 | 26,247 |
| ✔ | | Bruce Beemer | 5.8 | 21,139 |
| ✔ | Anthony DeLuca | 5.6 | 20,567 | |
| ✔ | Daniel J. Konieczka Jr. | 5.5 | 20,266 | |
| ✔ | | William Caye II | 5.2 | 19,115 |
| ✔ | Chuck Porter | 5.2 | 18,989 | |
| ✔ | | Sabrina Korbel | 5.2 | 18,861 |
| ✔ | Mark Patrick Flaherty | 4.9 | 17,899 | |
| ✔ | | Lisa Middleman | 4.0 | 14,694 |
| Matt Rogers | 3.9 | 14,165 | ||
| Pauline Calabrese | 3.8 | 14,065 | ||
| Elliot Howsie | 3.5 | 12,810 | |
| Marc Daffner | 3.5 | 12,643 | ||
| Ryan Hemminger | 3.1 | 11,506 | ||
| Jimmy Sheets | 3.1 | 11,309 | ||
| Andrew Szefi | 3.1 | 11,211 | ||
| Thomas P. Caulfield | 3.0 | 10,957 | ||
 | Beth Tarasi Sinatra | 2.9 | 10,743 | |
| Albert Veverka | 2.9 | 10,559 | ||
 | Patrick A. Sweeney | 2.9 | 10,446 | |
| Jason Cervone | 2.6 | 9,545 | ||
| Chelsa Wagner | 2.6 | 9,330 | ||
| Jessel Costa | 2.2 | 7,886 | ||
| Ilan Zur | 1.9 | 6,921 | |
| Wrenna Watson | 1.7 | 6,167 | |
| Mik Pappas | 1.5 | 5,651 | ||
| Richard Thomas Ernsberger | 1.5 | 5,366 | ||
| Zeke Rediker | 0.9 | 3,205 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.9 | 3,188 | ||
| Total votes: 365,450 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ilan Zur did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
2021
Ilan Zur completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Zur's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Compassion: throughout my career serving the Commonwealth, I've practiced a balanced and comprehensive approach to justice, meaning I look beyond the charges of a case to see the full scope of a human's life. This entails going into the communities where a crime is committed, reviewing the evidence, and weighing sentencing with the defendant's life story. Through practicing this rehabilitative approach to justice, I see incarceration as a last resort.
- Integrity: my experience working in the criminal justice system, and as a father, has taught me that there are usually two sides to every story. Everyone is capable of misrepresenting the truth, intentionally or unintentionally, from witnesses, to victims, and even police officers. I will always listen to both sides with an open mind before rendering a verdict or imposing a sentence.
- Experience: over my 22 years as a public servant, I've tried hundreds of case, including 60 homicide trials, amounting to thousands of hours in the courtroom. Now, I want to translate my decades of public service into working as a judge on the Court of Common Pleas.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
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Candidate Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on April 7, 2021
Federal courts:
Third Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Western District of Pennsylvania • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Western District of Pennsylvania
State courts:
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania • Pennsylvania Superior Court • Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court • Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas • Pennsylvania Magisterial Districts
State resources:
Courts in Pennsylvania • Pennsylvania judicial elections • Judicial selection in Pennsylvania
