Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

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Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court
Court information
Judges:	9
Founded:	1968
Salary:	Associates: $247,188
Judicial selection
Method:	Partisan election of judges
Term:	10 years

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court is one of Pennsylvania's two intermediate appellate courts, the other being the Superior Court. The Commonwealth Court was established in 1968 in Article V, section 4 of the 1968 Pennsylvania Constitution.

The court is made up of nine judges who serve 10-year terms (beginning the January after their election and ending on the first Monday of the January 10 years later - only on even-numbered years). The president judge is chosen by his or her colleagues for a five-year term. The court generally decides cases in three-judge panels and sits in Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.

• Published opinions of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court can be found here.

Jurisdiction

Cases heard by the Commonwealth Court are generally determined by what the case is about, and the identity of the parties to the lawsuit. This is a different way of determining the type of case heard by an appellate court than in other states, where the distinction is usually between civil matters and criminal matters.

The Commonwealth Court usually takes cases:

• When the case involves state and local government and regulatory agencies, such as when a lawsuit is filed against one of those governmental agencies.
• When the subject involves:

Banking Insurance Utility regulation Taxation (the court hears all state tax appeals from the Board of Finance and Revenue) Land use (such as eminent domain)

Elections Labor practices Workers compensation. Department of Transportation decisions Liquor Control Board rulings about liquor licenses.

Most appellate courts do not have original jurisdiction over cases, but the Commonwealth Court does, including election cases and cases where someone has filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Judges

Office	Name	Party	Date assumed office
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court	Renée Cohn Jubelirer	Republican	January 6, 2002
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court	Anne Covey	Republican	2012
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court	Lori A. Dumas	Democratic	January 3, 2022
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court	Christine Fizzano Cannon	Republican	2018
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court	Patricia McCullough	Republican	January 4, 2010
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court	Stella Tsai	Democratic	January 5, 2026
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court	Stacy Wallace	Republican	January 3, 2022
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court	Michael Wojcik	Democratic	2016
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court	Matt Wolf	Democratic	January 1, 2024

Senior judges

Judge	Tenure	Appointed By
Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter	February 1, 2016 - Present	Gov. Tom Ridge

Salary

See also: Pennsylvania court salaries and budgets

In 2025, the associate judges of the court received a salary of $247,188, according to the National Center for State Courts.

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in Pennsylvania

The nine judges of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court are selected in partisan elections.

Judges 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 judges' names appear without respect to party affiliation. To learn more about these elections, visit the Pennsylvania judicial elections page.

Qualifications

To serve on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court a judge must:

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

President judge

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court selects its president judge by peer vote. The president serves in that capacity for five years.

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 judges stand for election at the next municipal election occurring more than 10 months after the vacancy occurred.

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.

Elections

• 2029
• 2027
• 2025
• 2023
• 2021
• 2019

See also: Pennsylvania intermediate appellate court elections, 2029

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: Pennsylvania intermediate appellate court elections, 2027

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

See also: Pennsylvania intermediate appellate court elections, 2025

Special election: Ellen H. Ceisler's seat

General election

Special general election for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Stella Tsai (D) defeated Matthew Wolford (R) in the special general election for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on November 4, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stella Tsai (D)	60.4	886,655
		Matthew Wolford (R)	39.6	582,367

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. Source	Total votes: 1,469,022
= 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

Special Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Stella Tsai (D) advanced from the special Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on May 20, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stella Tsai	99.4	842,239
		Other/Write-in votes	0.6%	4,957

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 847,196
= 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

Special Republican primary for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Matthew Wolford (R) defeated Joshua Prince (R) in the special Republican primary for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on May 20, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matthew Wolford	61.6	405,704
		Joshua Prince	37.8	248,863
		Other/Write-in votes	0.6%	3,855

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2	Total votes: 658,422
= 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.

Retention election: Michael Wojcik's seat

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Michael Wojcik was retained to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on November 4, 2025 with 62.8% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	62.8	1,209,171
	No	37.2	715,885
	Total Votes		1,925,056

---

Source

See also: Pennsylvania intermediate appellate court elections, 2023

General election

General election for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Matt Wolf (D) defeated Megan Martin (R) in the general election for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matt Wolf (D)	52.5	1,602,116
		Megan Martin (R)	47.5	1,452,330

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,054,446
= 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 Commonwealth Court

Matt Wolf (D) defeated Bryan Neft (D) in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on May 16, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Matt Wolf	57.2	577,470
		Bryan Neft	42.8	431,595

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,009,065
= 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

Republican primary for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Megan Martin (R) defeated Joshua Prince (R) in the Republican primary for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on May 16, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Megan Martin	63.0	501,693
		Joshua Prince	37.0	294,979

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 796,672
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Harry Smail Jr. (R)

See also: Pennsylvania intermediate appellate court elections, 2021

Regular election: Partisan election for Judge Andrew Crompton's seat and retiring Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt's seat

General election

General election for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court (2 seats)

Stacy Wallace (R) and Lori A. Dumas (D) defeated incumbent Andrew Crompton (R) and David Spurgeon (D) in the general election for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stacy Wallace (R)	26.6	1,355,445
✔		Lori A. Dumas (D)	25.4	1,297,253
		Andrew Crompton (R)	25.0	1,274,899
		David Spurgeon (D)	23.0	1,175,974

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,103,571
= 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 Commonwealth Court (2 seats)

Lori A. Dumas (D) and David Spurgeon (D) defeated Amanda Green-Hawkins (D) and Sierra Thomas Street (D) in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on May 18, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lori A. Dumas	29.7	517,311
✔		David Spurgeon	26.5	460,769
		Amanda Green-Hawkins	25.6	445,400
		Sierra Thomas Street	18.3	318,017
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0%	289

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,741,786
= 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

Republican primary for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court (2 seats)

Stacy Wallace (R) and incumbent Andrew Crompton (R) advanced from the Republican primary for Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on May 18, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stacy Wallace	50.3	704,706
✔		Andrew Crompton	49.7	695,748

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,400,454
= 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.

Retention election: Anne Covey retention election

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Anne Covey was retained to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on November 2, 2021 with 61.8% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	61.8	1,410,818
	No	38.2	872,863
	Total Votes		2,283,681

---

The results have been certified. Source

Retention election: Renee Cohn Jubelirer retention election

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Renée Cohn Jubelirer was retained to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on November 2, 2021 with 62.7% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	62.7	1,426,901
	No	37.3	847,169
	Total Votes		2,274,070

---

The results have been certified. Source

See also: Pennsylvania intermediate appellate court elections, 2019

Retention election for Patricia McCullough

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Patricia McCullough was retained to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on November 5, 2019 with 75.0% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	75.0	1,474,584
	No	25.0	491,040
	Total Votes		1,965,624

---

The results have been certified. Source

Retention election for Kevin Brobson

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Kevin Brobson was retained to the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on November 5, 2019 with 71.7% of the vote.

	Retention Vote	%	Votes
✔	Yes	71.7	1,393,158
	No	28.3	549,432
	Total Votes		1,942,590

---

The results have been certified. Source

Previous election results

2017

See also: Pennsylvania judicial elections, 2017

Partisan election, two seats

One of the two incumbents, Julia Hearthway, did not file to run in the election.

■ Joseph M. Cosgrove (Incumbent)
■ Todd Eagen
■ Ellen H. Ceisler
■ Bryan Barbin
■ W. Timothy Barry
■ Irene McLaughlin Clark
■ Christine F. Cannon
■ Paul Lalley

2015

Todd Eagen faced Michael Wojcik in the Democratic primary.

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, One seat, Democratic Primary, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Michael Wojcik	55.4%	342,813
Todd Eagen	44.6%	275,581
Write-in votes	0%	0
Total Votes		618,394
Source: Pennsylvania Department of State, "2015 Municipal Primary Unofficial Results," May 19, 2015

Michael Wojcik faced Paul Lalley in the general election.

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, One seat, General Election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Michael Wojcik	52.8%	1,050,003
	Republican	Paul Lalley	47.2%	938,393
		Write-in votes	0%	0
Total Votes				1,988,396
Source: Pennsylvania Department of State, "Unofficial General Election Results," November 3, 2015

Paul Lalley was unopposed in the Republican primary.

2011

The following is a list of candidates for the Commonwealth Court 2011 election:

Candidate	Incumbency	District	Primary Vote	Election Vote
Paul P. Panepinto
Kathryn Boockvar
ErnsbergerBarbara Ernsberger	No		49.8%
CoveyAnne Covey
LeavittMary Hannah Leavitt   A	Yes			A
SimpsonRobert Simpson   A	Yes			A
Cohn JubelirerRenee Cohn Jubelirer   A	Yes	Retention election		A

See also: Judicial selection in Pennsylvania

Ethics

The Pennsylvania Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in Pennsylvania. It is composed of four canons:

“

Canons 1. A judge shall uphold and promote the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary, and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety. 2. A judge shall perform the duties of judicial office impartially, competently, and diligently. 3. A judge shall conduct the judge’s personal and extrajudicial activities to minimize the risk of conflict with the obligations of judicial office. 4. A judge or candidate for judicial office shall not engage in political or campaign activity that is inconsistent with the independence, integrity, or impartiality of the judiciary.

”

The full text of the Pennsylvania Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

Removal of judges

Judges in Pennsylvania may be removed in one of two ways:

• By the court of judicial discipline, which hears formal charges from the judicial conduct board if the board finds probable cause to file charges
• Impeachment by the house of representatives, plus conviction by two-thirds of the senate

Caseload

Year	Appeals from Common Pleas	Agency appeals	Discretionary appeals	Original discretion	Board of Finance/Review	Original & appellate combined	Miscellaneous	Total filed
2007	876	1,494	24	587	896	7	38	3,922
2006	954	1,472	29	618	751	7	65	3,896
2005	955	1,628	36	599	786	4	48	4,056

This data is from a 2007 statistical overview prepared by the court.

Mediation program

Since 2000, the Commonwealth Court has offered a mediation program to settle some cases through negotiation instead of litigation. Cases in these areas are covered:

• Workers' compensation
• Zoning disputes
• Tax assessment challenges

Since the beginning of the program, about 1,600 cases have been assigned to it, and about half of those cases have been resolved through its mediation services.

State profile

Demographic data for Pennsylvania
	Pennsylvania	U.S.
Total population:	12,791,904	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	44,743	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	81.6%	73.6%
Black/African American:	11%	12.6%
Asian:	3.1%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.1%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	6.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	89.2%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	28.6%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$53,599	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	15.9%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Pennsylvania. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania voted for the Democratic candidate in five out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, three are located in Pennsylvania, accounting for 1.46 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Pennsylvania had one Retained Pivot County and two Boomerang Pivot Counties, accounting for 0.55 and 8.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Pennsylvania coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Pennsylvania
• United States congressional delegations from Pennsylvania
• Public policy in Pennsylvania
• Endorsers in Pennsylvania
• Pennsylvania fact checks
• More...

See also

Pennsylvania	Judicial Selection	More Courts
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

• The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, "Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court"

Footnotes

Pennsylvania courts

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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