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Pennsylvania Supreme Court elections

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There are seven justices on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. For more information about these elections, visit the Pennsylvania judicial elections page.

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in Pennsylvania

The seven justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court are selected in partisan elections.[1]

Justices serve 10-year terms, after which they must run in yes-no retention elections if they wish to remain on the court. A separate part of the ballot is designated for these elections, and justices' names appear without respect to party affiliation.[1][2] To learn more about these elections, visit the Pennsylvania judicial elections page.

Qualifications

To serve on the supreme court, a justice must:

  • have state residence for at least one year;
  • be a member of the state bar; and
  • be under the age of 75.[1][3]

Chief justice

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court chooses its chief justice by seniority; the title is held by the longest-serving justice on the court.[1][4]

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a successor who must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Pennsylvania Senate. Interim justices stand for election at the next municipal election occurring more than 10 months after the vacancy occurred.[1]

By tradition, appointed interim judges of the supreme court, superior court, or court of appeals do not go on to run for permanent seats. In other words, the governor appoints these judges with the expectation that the judge will only fill the interim vacancy.[1]

The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.

Elections

See also: Pennsylvania Supreme Court elections, 2027

Retention election: Sallie Mundy's seat


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


Regular election: Christine Donohue's seat


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


Retention election: Debra Todd's seat


There are no official candidates yet for this election.


See also: Pennsylvania Supreme Court elections, 2025

Kevin Dougherty's seat

Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Kevin M. Dougherty was retained to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on November 4, 2025 with 64.4% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
64.4
 
936,937
No
 
35.6
 
516,808
Total Votes 1,453,745

 Source

David Wecht's seat

Pennsylvania Supreme Court

David Wecht was retained to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on November 4, 2025 with 64.3% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
64.3
 
932,196
No
 
35.7
 
517,353
Total Votes 1,449,549

 Source

Christine Donohue's seat

Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Christine Donohue was retained to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on November 4, 2025 with 64.8% of the vote.

Retention Vote
%
Votes
✔ Yes
 
64.8
 
932,483
No
 
35.2
 
505,509
Total Votes 1,437,992

 Source

See also: Pennsylvania Supreme Court elections, 2023

General election

General election for Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Daniel D. McCaffery (D) defeated Carolyn Tornetta Carluccio (R) in the general election for Pennsylvania Supreme Court on November 7, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Daniel D. McCaffery
Daniel D. McCaffery (D)  Candidate Connection
 
53.5
 
1,652,113
Image of Carolyn Tornetta Carluccio
Carolyn Tornetta Carluccio (R)  Candidate Connection
 
46.5
 
1,434,945

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,087,058
Candidate Connection = 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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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Daniel D. McCaffery (D) defeated Deborah A. Kunselman (D) in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Supreme Court on May 16, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Daniel D. McCaffery
Daniel D. McCaffery  Candidate Connection
 
60.2
 
633,845
Image of Deborah A. Kunselman
Deborah A. Kunselman  Candidate Connection
 
39.8
 
419,090

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,052,935
Candidate Connection = 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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Republican primary

Republican primary for Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Carolyn Tornetta Carluccio (R) defeated Patricia McCullough (R) in the Republican primary for Pennsylvania Supreme Court on May 16, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Carolyn Tornetta Carluccio
Carolyn Tornetta Carluccio  Candidate Connection
 
53.6
 
441,413
Image of Patricia McCullough
Patricia McCullough
 
46.4
 
382,512

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 823,925
Candidate Connection = 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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See also: Pennsylvania Supreme Court elections, 2021

General election

General election for Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Kevin Brobson (R) defeated Maria McLaughlin (D) in the general election for Pennsylvania Supreme Court on November 2, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Kevin Brobson
Kevin Brobson (R)
 
50.4
 
1,397,100
Image of Maria McLaughlin
Maria McLaughlin (D)
 
49.6
 
1,372,182

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 2,769,282
Candidate Connection = 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

Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Maria McLaughlin (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Supreme Court on May 18, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Maria McLaughlin
Maria McLaughlin
 
100.0
 
945,138

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 945,138
Candidate Connection = 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

Republican primary

Republican primary for Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Kevin Brobson (R) defeated Patricia McCullough (R) and Paula A. Patrick (R) in the Republican primary for Pennsylvania Supreme Court on May 18, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Kevin Brobson
Kevin Brobson
 
52.2
 
505,084
Image of Patricia McCullough
Patricia McCullough
 
32.9
 
317,975
Image of Paula A. Patrick
Paula A. Patrick
 
14.9
 
144,291

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 967,350
Candidate Connection = 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.

Previous election results


See also

Pennsylvania Judicial Selection More Courts
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Courts in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court
Pennsylvania Superior Court
Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017
Gubernatorial appointments
Judicial selection in Pennsylvania
Federal courts
State courts
Local courts

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Pennsylvania," archived October 3, 2014
  2. ↑ The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, "In Re: Nomination Papers of Marakay Rogers, Christina Valente and Carl J. Romanelli," November 7, 2006
  3. ↑ 2018 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, "Title 42, Chapter 33, Section 3351," accessed August 25, 2020
  4. ↑ The Pennsylvania Code, "Chapter 7. Assignment of Judges," accessed September 3, 2014
  5. ↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "State Supreme Court races will sizzle in 2015," December 7, 2015
  6. ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Pennsylvania," archived June 19, 2014
  7. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Justice of the Supreme Court Primary Election Results"
  8. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Justice of the Supreme Court General Election Results"

Pennsylvania courts

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

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