Election Guide: What to expect on the ballot

By Jack Tomczuk

Voters across Pennsylvania will have an opportunity to reshape the commonwealth’s judiciary when they go to the polls for Election Day, and Philadelphians will be selecting the city’s next district attorney and controller.

Tuesday’s most closely watched — and well-funded — ballot item is a retention election for three justices on Pennsylvania’s highest court, a typically ho-hum affair that has been injected with partisan fervor in one of the nation’s best-known ‘swing states.’

Election officials and political organizers will be hoping for a bump in turnout; fewer than 17% of registered Philadelphia voters cast a ballot in May’s primary.

Supreme Court

Retention elections, which are not included on the primary ballot, present “yes” or “no” choices for voters on whether a state judge should serve another 10-year term. Political party affiliations are not listed.

“Retention is specifically designed to keep judges out of the political fray while at the same time holding them accountable to the voters based on their overall records and performance in office,” a document on the Pennsylvania court system’s website reads.

Three justices on the seven-member state Supreme Court are up for retention – all originally elected as Democrats in 2015.

Christine Donohue previously served on the Superior Court, as did David Wecht. Kevin Dougherty, before being elected as a justice, spent 14 years on Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas bench.

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin spent a couple of days last week stumping for the trio in a series of stops that included Philadelphia.

The Pennsylvania Bar Association, which rates candidates through its Judicial Evaluation Commission, is recommending additional terms for Donohue, Dougherty and Wecht.

Superior Court

Three judicial hopefuls are competing for one open seat on the 15-member Superior Court, one of two statewide appeals panels.

GOP attorney Maria Battista, who defeated a party-backed candidate in the primary, is running against Democrat and current Washington County Court of Common Pleas Judge Brandon Neuman. Doylestown-based attorney and Bucks County Community College adjunct professor Daniel Wassmer is running under the banner of the Liberal Party.

Neuman, a former state representative, is “highly recommended” by the PA Bar Association; Battista did not participate in the organization’s investigation process.

Alice Beck Dubow, a former Philadelphia Court Common Pleas judge, is running to be retained for a second 10-year term on Superior Court. The bar association recommends a “yes” vote.

Commonwealth Court

A single seat is also up for grabs on the nine-judge Commonwealth Court, the other statewide appeals court.

Erie-based environmental attorney Matt Wolford, a Republican, and Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Stella Tsai, a Democrat, are on the ballot. Both are “highly recommended” by the PA Bar Association.

Judge Michael Wojcik, first elected to the Commonwealth Court in 2015, is pursuing another 10-year term. He is recommended for retention by the bar association.

District Attorney

Tuesday’s race for Philadelphia’s top prosecutor will be a rematch of the Democratic primary.

Former Municipal Court Judge Pat Dugan accepted the GOP nomination following a coordinated write-in campaign when no Republicans filed to run in the election. He is again challenging Democrat Larry Krasner, a progressive district attorney seeking his third four-year term.

Krasner earned 64% of the vote share against Dugan in the May 20 primary, which was only open to registered party members. The incumbent is heavily favored, as about 72% of Philadelphia voters are Democrats, according to data from the City Commissioners.

City Controller

Philadelphia’s city controller conducts audits and analyses to track city money and hold officials accountable.

Incumbent Democrat Christy Brady rose through the ranks of the office and was appointed acting controller in 2022 when Rebecca Rhynhart resigned to run for mayor. Last year, she was elected to serve the remainder of Rhynart’s term.

Republican Ari Patrinos is a Harvard graduate who left a career as a stock broker to return to his native Philadelphia and become a teacher, according to a biography on the city GOP’s website.

Court of Common Pleas

Eleven Democrats – Will Braverman, Sarah Jones, Deborah Watson-Stokes, Kia Ghee, Irina Ehrlich, Larry Farnese, Leon King II, Brian Kisielewski, Anthony Stefanski, Joseph Russo and Jennifer Santiago – are on the ballot for 11 open seats on Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas. No Republicans entered the race.

All but Russo are recommended by the Philadelphia Bar Association, which rates candidates “on their ability, integrity and judgment,” according to the organization’s website.

Pursuing 10 more years on the bench through retention elections are Gwendolyn Bright, Ann Butchart, Scott DiClaudio, Michael Fanning, Daine Grey Jr., Christopher Mallios, Walter Olszewski, Frank Palumbo, Rainy Papademetriou, Tracy Roman, Stephanie Sawyer, Susan Schulman and Lyris Younge.

Grey was not recommended by the bar association, which also did not give its stamp of approval to DiClaudio, Palumbo and Younge because the trio did not participate in the process.

Municipal Court

Democrats Amanda Davidson, Sherrie Cohen, Cortez Patton and Michael Parkinson are running unopposed for four judicial positions on the Municipal Court. Davidson and Parkinson are recommended by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Municipal Court judges are permitted to be retained for six-year terms. Up this cycle are David Conroy, Jacquelyn Frazier-Lyde, Henry Lewandowski, Wendy Pew and T. Francis Shields. The bar association recommends “yes” votes on all except for Frazier-Lyde.

How to vote

Polling places will be open for in-person voting from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Philadelphians can find their voting location by typing in their address at atlas.phila.gov/voting.

For those voting by mail who have not yet returned their ballot, the City Commissioners recommend delivering it to a dropbox or an elections office. Ballots will not be counted unless they are received, not postmarked, by 8 p.m. Tuesday.

The Commissioners, who oversee elections, operate 34 dropboxes that are available 24/7, along with 11 offices. For a full list of locations where ballots can be submitted, go to https://vote.phila.gov/ballot-drop-off.

Additional information about voting is available at vote.phila.gov and vote.pa.gov.