The 2017 municipal primary election came and went with little fanfare. Perhaps the nerves of Pennsylvania voters needed a break following the tense and seemingly never-ending 2016 general election. Here is a lay of the land for the statewide judicial races and a few other noteworthy races.
Both candidates running for state Supreme Court had no challenger, setting up a one-on-one general election. Dwayne Woodruff (D) of Allegheny County received 617,915 votes, while Sallie Updyke Mundy (R) of Tioga County received 455,906 votes. Mundy is currently an interim justice on the bench, after she was appointed in 2016 by Governor Tom Wolf. With her seat up for grabs, the Democrats could gain another seat and increase their current 5-2 majority.
Moving to the Superior Court race, four of the five Democratic nominees are moving onto the November election. Maria McLaughlin (Philadelphia) received the most votes, followed by Deborah Kunselman (Beaver), Carolyn Nichols (Philadelphia) and Geoffrey Moulton, Jr. (Montgomery). It was the same story on the Republican side, as four of the five nominees will be on the ballot in the general election. Craig Stedman (Lancaster) led the field, while Emil Giordano (Northampton), Wade Kagarise (Blair) and Mary Murray (Allegheny) were close behind. The eight remaining candidates are vying for one of four open seats.
In the Commonwealth Court election, four candidates made their way through yesterday’s election and onto the ballot in November, where there are two open seats. Ellen Ceisler (Philadelphia) and Irene McLaughlin Clark (Allegheny) are the Democratic candidates. They will square off against Paul Lalley (Allegheny) and Christine Fizzano Cannon (Delaware), who were unopposed in the Republican primary.
There were also important races in the state’s two largest cities. In Philadelphia, civil rights attorney Larry Krasner won the Democratic nomination for District Attorney. He will face Beth Grossman, the only Republican on yesterday’s ballot, in the general election. Also in the city of brotherly love, Rebecca Rynhart upset current City Controller Alan Butkovitz in the primary, setting up a match against Republican Michael Tomlinson in November. Moving west to Pittsburgh, where Mayor Bill Peduto easily won the Democratic nomination in his bid for re-election.