On Nov. 4, eligible voters in Pennsylvania will decide whether Democratic state Supreme Court Justices Christine Donohue, David Wecht and Kevin M. Dougherty will retain their seats for another 10-year term. Judges for the Commonwealth and Superior Courts, as well as other local positions, will also appear on the ballot.<\/p>\n
At Lehigh, the organizations Vote For Equality and Project 26 Pennsylvania are working on campus to increase voter turnout, especially for the justice election.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The justice election<\/p>\n
The Pennsylvania Bar Association and Gov. Josh Shapiro have endorsed the justices for retention, but partisan control of the court remains in question. The court currently has a 5-2 Democratic majority, according to Spotlight PA,<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n If any of the three justices are not retained, the process of appointing a temporary replacement would begin. The governor can appoint an interim justice only with approval from two-thirds of the Republican-controlled state Senate, according to Spotlight PA.<\/p>\n If voters say \u201cno\u201d and the Senate blocks temporary appointments, a politically divided court could face delays in issuing statewide judicial decisions, according to WHYY<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Political science professor Jennifer Jensen said national efforts to influence judicial appointments have intensified, aiming to alter the balance of courts.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to The New York Times<\/a>, the Democratic National Committee has allocated approximately the same amount of money for New Jersey and Virginia\u2019s governor\u2019s races as the Pennsylvania retention elections.<\/p>\n Along with other conservative groups, the Republican State Leadership Committee has urged Pennsylvanians to vote \u201cno\u201d in the retention election, according to NBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jensen said decisions made by the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court may have greater national implications.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen State Supreme Courts make big decisions that have implications as to what ballots get accepted or not accepted in state races, and, in fact, presidential races,\u201d she said. \u201dThere are potentially, not absolutely, but potentially national implications to who\u2019s sitting on the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Harrison Smetana, \u201828, the president of Lehigh College Republicans, said he supports Republican judicial candidate Maria Battista for her effort to remain non-partisan.\u00a0<\/p>\n The organization, along with similar groups from DeSales University and Moravian University, attended a donor event at Hotel Bethlehem in early October, where Battista and other candidates on the ballot spoke.<\/p>\n Smetana, who transferred to Lehigh this fall, said he didn\u2019t have enough information to comment on the state Supreme Court election. Still, he said lower court and local elections are important because those officials make decisions on issues such as taxes, loans, firearms and abortion.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter what, no matter how small the election, your vote will always matter, because especially in these smaller elections, even a few votes could change the whole thing,\u201d Smetana said.<\/p>\n Efforts to increase voter turnout<\/p>\n Pennsylvania remains a key swing state, having split nearly evenly in the past two presidential elections.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Politico<\/a>, President Donald Trump won the state 50.4% to Kamala Harris\u2019s 48.7% in 2024. In 2020<\/a>, former President Joe Biden carried the state 50% to Trump\u2019s 48.8%.\u00a0<\/p>\n Baylee Baker, \u201828, the president of Lehigh Democrats, said living in a swing state gives each vote additional weight.<\/p>\n