Pa. election 2025: A complete guide to Supreme Court retention candidates (D)

HARRISBURG — Three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices are up for retention on Nov. 4, in elections that could set the stage for a total remaking of the court.

Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht were all elected as Democrats in 2015, and their party has held a majority on the state’s high court since. Republicans are pushing Pennsylvanians to vote “no” on their retention, which would lead to contested, partisan elections in 2027.

The commonwealth’s top appellate court, controlled by a Democratic majority, has made dozens of high-profile decisions over the past decade that have shaped politics and policy. The accumulated impact has been noticeable to legal scholars — as well as political opponents.

In 2019, state constitutional scholar Bruce Ledewitz told the Pennsylvania Capital-Star that while the court could be “activist,” it was also “very well-grounded by the text and history of the Pennsylvania Constitution.”



https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/09/supreme-court-retention-election-2025-pennsylvania-donohue-dougherty-wecht-elections/