{"id":48123,"date":"2025-11-30T05:58:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T05:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/48123\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T05:58:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T05:58:27","slug":"pa-election-2025-state-supreme-court-retention-voter-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/48123\/","title":{"rendered":"PA election 2025: State Supreme Court retention voter guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

What questions do you have about the 2025 elections? What major issues do you want candidates to address? Let us know.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

In Pennsylvania\u2019s 2025 election<\/a>, voters will confront judicial choices that often fly under the radar. But this year, the spotlight is shining brightly on the most consequential of these races, which will determine whether three justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will remain on the bench. While these judicial retention votes usually attract little public interest, this year\u2019s election<\/a> is unfolding in a highly politically charged environment, with national implications for voting rights, redistricting and abortion access.\n<\/p>\n

To retain or\u2026 not so much?<\/p>\n

Rather than choosing between candidates, voters will be presented with a \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d question for each justice: Should this justice be retained for another 10-year term on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court? All three were first elected in 2015 as Democrats and are now seeking to continue their service amid partisan efforts to either preserve or upend the court\u2019s ideological makeup.\n<\/p>\n

Since the current system was adopted in 1968, only one statewide judge, Justice Russell Nigro in 2005, has ever been voted out of office<\/a>. If the three justices are ousted, the results would be immediate. A vacancy would allow Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro to nominate a replacement, but that appointee would need to be confirmed by the Republican-controlled state Senate. A deadlock or refusal could leave seats open until the next judicial election in 2027, potentially stalling or disrupting major decisions by the court.\n <\/p>\n

The current balance of the court \u2014 five Democrats and two Republicans \u2014 has played a significant role in shaping Pennsylvania\u2019s political and legal landscape. In recent years, the court has issued decisive rulings on election laws, legislative maps, public health authority and civil liberties. Advocates on both sides of the retention campaign acknowledge that changing even one vote on the bench could influence outcomes in closely contested cases.\n<\/p>\n

A coordinated campaign by conservative activists and political donors has brought rare visibility to this off-year vote. These groups argue the court has overstepped its bounds in rulings<\/a> on mail-in voting, redistricting and pandemic-related mandates. In response, progressive and pro-democracy organizations have launched their own outreach efforts<\/a>, warning that the court\u2019s independence is under attack and urging voters to vote \u201cyes\u201d across the board.\n<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s running?
\nJustice Kevin Dougherty<\/p>\n

Justice Kevin Dougherty<\/a>, a Philadelphia native, was elected to the state Supreme Court<\/a> in the 2015 election. He earned his undergraduate degree from Temple University<\/a> and a law degree from Antioch School of Law. Dougherty began his legal career as a prosecutor in the Philadelphia District Attorney\u2019s Office before entering private practice, where he focused on family law and criminal defense. In 2001, he was appointed to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, where he spent more than a decade \u2014 primarily in the Family Division<\/a> \u2014 and eventually became its administrative judge, managing assignments and reforms in one of the city\u2019s busiest judicial sectors.\n<\/p>\n

Since joining the Supreme Court, Dougherty has taken a visible interest in mental health<\/a> and accessibility within the judicial system. He has led initiatives to create sensory-friendly courtrooms for neurodivergent individuals<\/a> and helped establish the statewide Office of Behavioral Health<\/a> within Pennsylvania\u2019s courts.\n<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Dougherty authored a decision protecting a lesbian mother\u2019s parental status<\/a> and, thereby, affirming the state\u2019s recognition of legal parentage for children born through assisted reproduction. Last year, Dougherty wrote the decision that upheld a city\u2019s restriction on the location of gun ranges<\/a>, calling it \u201coutside the Second Amendment\u2019s unqualified command.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

In another 2025 case, Dougherty wrote a majority opinion that overruled a lower court\u2019s decision, allowing a case against a Philadelphia police detective<\/a> who was charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and public records to go forward. Notably, Dougherty partially dissented from a majority ruling limiting legislative power during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that a law that allowed the legislature to override a governor\u2019s emergency powers was unconstitutional on its face.\n<\/p>\n

Some activists hoping to remove Dougherty from the bench point to his brother, John Dougherty, a former union leader who was convicted on federal charges<\/a> in 2023. The Pennsylvania Bar Association recommended him for retention, praising him for being \u201cwell prepared,\u201d \u201csmart\u201d and possessing \u201ca temperament and demeanor that is respectful and professional.\u201d<\/a>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What questions do you have about the 2025 elections? What major issues do you want candidates to address?…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1383,28,30,29,8109,50],"class_list":["post-48123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-elections-2025","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-pennsylvania-supreme-court","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}